The FIBA Women’s World Cup gets underway in Berlin on Friday, September 4, with a star-studded US team featuring Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese facing China in their opener.
It will be a tall order for the US squad to put on the clamps on 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu and 6-foot-10 New York Liberty star Han Xu.
This will be Zhang’s world debut for the East Asian women’s basketball power, as she did not play in the 2022 World Cup final in Sydney, Australia, where Team USA beat China, 83-61.
A threatening Chinese team
Zhang, whose parents played competitive basketball in their younger days, made her debut at last year’s FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, averaging 14.8 points and 5.5 rebounds to help World No. 4 China capture the bronze medal.
The young center’s performance during the Asia Cup impressed the 26-year-old Han, who said she expects Zhang to make her presence felt in the tournament, especially against Team USA, whose buildup to the tournament was disrupted by the last-minute withdrawals of A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum.
Han, who plays the role of an older sister in the young but talented Chinese team, said that Zhang is good but needs some more polishing to make it big overseas.
On the other hand, Han has shown her talent this year, dropping a career-high 19 points to lead the Liberty to an 85-66 win over the Chicago Sky on Aug. 29.
Her performance against the Sky broke her previous high of 17 set on Aug. 1 against Phoenix.
The second-round pick in the 2019 WNBA draft has been averaging 6.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 40 games this season for New York.
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Team USA wary of China threat
The Kara Lawson-coached US team will be made up of Reese, Bueckers, Clark, Sonia Citron, Chelsea Gray, Rhyne Howard, Jackie Young, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Kiki Iriafen, Breanna Stewart and Aliyah Boston.
Despite the caliber of the No.1-seeded squad, they will not take the Chinese team for granted, especially with a tall frontline led by Han and Zhang.
Zhang’s size makes Team USA a bit concerned but guard Sonia Citron said they will be prepared to make her life difficult once she enters the court.
Tipoff for the US-China showdown is at 8:15 a.m. ET at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin, Germany.
Both squads are bracketed in Group D and will play Czechia and Italy in the preliminaries.
Other teams competing in the tournament are hosts Germany, Japan, Spain, Mali, Hungary, South Korea, Nigeria, France, Belgium, Australia, Puerto Rico and Turkey.
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