"Female version of Yao Ming" dreams of winning a gold medal at the Universiade, from Tsinghua Affiliated Middle School to Shanghai Jiao Tong University | Student | Universiade
Han Xu, who is 2.11 meters tall, stands out among the crowd on the field, winning every long shot with enthusiastic cheers from the entire audience. On July 28th, the women's basketball group stage of the Chengdu Summer Universiade kicked off at the Phoenix Mountain Sports Park Basketball Stadium. In the end, the Chinese women's basketball team won 83-63 against the Portuguese women's basketball team, achieving a good start.
At the beginning of this month, 23-year-old Han Xugang just won the Asian Cup with the Chinese women's basketball team. After 12 years, he returned to the top of Asia and was elected as the final MVP and tournament MVP, demonstrating the strength of the strongest center in Asia. Han Xu also has another identity - a 2019 student majoring in Human Resource Management at Antai School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. As a student athlete, her goal at this year's Universiade is to "strive to win a gold medal" and leave the most beautiful youth annotations for her college years.
Taking the Path of Campus Basketball Training
Han Xu was born in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. Both of her parents are professional basketball players. Thanks to her family's inheritance, she has been taller than her peers since childhood. Unlike athletes who pursue professional sports, Han Xu's basketball career has never left school. By the time she graduated from elementary school, Han Xu, who was less than 12 years old, was already over 1.7 meters tall. Due to her excellent physical condition, she had entered the nationally renowned Ma John Sports Specialty Class at Tsinghua Affiliated High School.
Han Xu's father, Han Fashun, once mentioned in a media interview that cultural foundation is important for an athlete, which is also why he did not consider transferring his daughter to a professional team early. Han Fashun recalled that he started professional training from the first day of junior high school, only attending two and a half days of cultural classes per week. Unlike his daughter, she still attends classes at school every day. When encountering group training and competitions, teachers also help make up classes. It is the cultivation of campus basketball that has created the current Han Xu.
During his training at Tsinghua Affiliated Middle School, Han Xu helped the school team win national championships multiple times. The Chinese Basketball Association has also provided her with age appropriate high-level competition opportunities. In 2016 and 2017, Han Xu represented the Chinese Youth Women's Basketball Team in the U17 Women's Basketball World Championships, U18 Women's Basketball Asian Youth Championships, and U19 Women's Basketball World Championships.
Not dropping the cultural class is also helpful for Han Xu to play basketball. Many coaches who have coached Han Xu have commented that "she has a high level of intelligence, a deep understanding of techniques and tactics, and is proficient in just a little bit." In 2018, Han Xu was selected for the national team, and then head coach of the national women's basketball team, Xu Limin, praised this 18-year-old young player for "understanding the game beyond her age.".
In April 2019, Han Xu was selected by the New York Libertadores at the WNBA Draft, embarking on another overseas adventure. At the same time, she entered Shanghai Jiao Tong University from Tsinghua Affiliated Middle School, and the school has consistently provided quality education for top sports students. No matter where he is, Han Xu's learning never stops.
Wang Kun, Director of the Department of Physical Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told reporters that during Han Xu's time playing basketball in the United States, the school arranged remote teaching for her. "I always calculate the time difference and wait for Han Xu to finish his training before taking online classes. At Shanghai Jiao Tong University, competition results are the highlight of students' athletes when they enter, and arranging learning in various subjects is to prepare them for their future transformation. We have many world-class top athletes who not only have excellent athletic abilities, but also have all-round development."
"Achieve your best self"
It is reported that Shanghai Jiao Tong University currently has eight high-level sports teams in seven events: table tennis, tennis, badminton, basketball, swimming, athletics, and football. Among them, basketball, table tennis, and swimming are traditional strengths of the school. Yao Ming, the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Han Xu has also grown in the footsteps of his predecessors.
On campus, athletes from high-level sports teams are the stars on the sports field; When they graduated, they were also favored by employers. Internally and externally, allowing students from high-level sports teams to achieve their "best selves". This is inseparable from the exploration of "what kind of athletes to cultivate" and "how to cultivate athletes" by the Sports Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In addition to top-notch coaches and faculty, Shanghai Jiao Tong University adheres to the training goal of "excellence in both moral education and training".
"We hope to integrate the small goal of sports training performance into the educational goal of 'achieving the best self and realizing life value', and stimulate the internal motivation of students' self growth." Wang Kun said that as time goes on, coaches and students have seen the fruits of 'promoting cultural and sports mutually'. Students can transfer the spirit of courage and hard work cultivated in training to learning, and deepen their understanding of training objectives while enriching cultural connotations, and generate more profound and personalized cognition.
Under the "excellent moral education and training" training program, athletes have more diverse development directions after graduation. They can continue to engage in sports related careers and also be competent in professional positions. Many students have decided to pursue further education after graduation. Han Xu expressed his hope to continue his graduate studies at Jiaotong University after graduating from undergraduate studies.
In Han Fashun's view, his daughter is calm and resilient when facing difficulties, which is also the power of education. "The education she received and the world she saw made her increasingly mature."
