China will play Japan on Sunday to start their run for the
fourth consecutive crown in the FIBA Women's Asian
Championship.
Japan took the gold medal just once in the history of the
championship in 1970. However they finished second or third in
eight out of the last 10 tournaments.
"They are quick, and accurate in shooting," the Chinese team
coach Sun Fengwu told Xinhua after Saturday's training.
"We will take advantage of our body height to try our best for
the first game victory."
China sent its second national team to Incheon this time. The
average height of the team is 1.84 meters with the 2.07-meter Wei
Wei, only 17 years old, as the tallest girl.
Japan is not a major problem for China's ambition. Hosts South
Korea draw much attention from China as they enjoyed a winning
tradition and captured golds in 1997 and 1999 before China's title
streak.
The 22th FIBA Women's Asian Championship features two levels.
China, South Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Malaysia
are in Level One while China's Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
Vietnam, India and Uzbekistan are in Level Two.
The top four sides in Level One will advance to the semi-finals,
while the other two will have to play against the top two teams in
Level Two in classification games in a bid to avoid relegation.
As China hosts the 2008 Olympics, the highest-placed team other
than China at the Asian Championship will advance to the Beijing
Olympics.
At the FIBA Women's World Championship in Brazil, China finished
12th, South Korea 13th and Chinese Taipei 14th.
At the Doha Asian Games last December, China beat Chinese Taipei
to claim the title.
Miao Lijie, Chen Nan and Chen Xiaoli all played starring roles
in the Asian Games, but only Jia Guang, who took part in the Asian
Games, will play in Incheon as a member of the Chinese Second
Team.
Chinese Taipei is always a difficult team to play as well. They
beat Japan at last year's World Championship.
Uzbekistan will open the tournament against Hong Kong at 10am on
Sunday followed by India vs Singapore before Sri Lanka vs Vietnam
in the afternoon.
Level One play then tips off with South Korea tackling Thailand,
followed by Japan against China and finally Malaysia against
Chinese Taipei.
(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2007)