BERLIN (AP) — Opponents are looking up to China during the women’s basketball World Cup, starting with the United States.
The Americans and everyone else have to navigate around and over some of the tallest women on the planet: China’s 19-year-old Zhang Ziyu stands 7-foot-3. The U.S. team is already familiar with 6-10 Han Xu from her WNBA games with the New York Liberty.
If not for a passport mishap, Zhang and Han would be joined by another center —
6-7 Li Yueru, who plays with the WNBA's Dallas Wings. Li posted on social media Wednesday that her passport was lost in the mail and she won’t be able to compete.
China opens its campaign against the four-time defending champion in Berlin on Friday.
Zhang is taller than basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and just an inch shorter than San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama.
Her height alone ensures she will stand out against the tournament favorites.
She wasn’t playing when the U.S. beat China 83-61 in the 2022 World Cup final in Sydney for a fourth consecutive gold medal. She made her senior debut at the Women’s Asia Cup last year and helped China capture the bronze, averaging 14.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in the tournament.
Han praised her performance at that tournament and said she was ready to step onto the world stage.
“World Cup is a good moment for her, for the whole world to know her,” Han told The Associated Press. “I am so excited to play with her again.”
Both of Zhang’s parents played basketball and it was her mother who encouraged her to take up the sport.
As one of the oldest players in the Chinese roster at 26, Han takes on the responsibly of looking out for her younger teammates. She points out that Zhang is still “very young” and just starting her career.
“She’s a little girl, you know, like the heart is soft,” she said.
Zhang missed China’s pre-tournament warmup against France on Tuesday and wasn't practicing during the brief time-slots open to media Wednesday and Thursday. She did individual exercises with a personal trainer while the rest of the team warmed up on the court before Friday's opener against the U.S. team.
“She has (a) big body and tall girl, and she needs some time to rest a little bit,” Han said Wednesday, alluding to Zhang's personalize training regime.
U.S. guard Sonia Citron, also making her World Cup debut, says they’ll be prepared either way.
“I think just try to make it difficult for her, you know, to guard her as a team,” Citron said. “Just don’t leave anybody on an island, but yeah, I think we’ll prep everything and then be ready.”
Few expect China to go further than it did in 2022, with France and Australia expected to be most likely challengers for the U.S. But Zhang's introduction gives the Chinese an extra weapon they didn't have four years ago.
“At the last World Cup, we played our best, but before we played, we never thought we would do so well, but we gave 100%,” Han said. “I’ll try to do the same or better and try to focus every single game. “Especially me, I just try to focus because there’s so much noise around me.”
___ AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.
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