Should Han Xu, a student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, be risking his life like this?, Observation: Triple Championships in WCBA, Asian Cup, and Universiade Women's Basketball | China | Universiade
The deafening cries of Chengdu fans almost overturned the roof of the Phoenix Mountain Sports Park Ice Basketball Arena. With the extremely hot home atmosphere, the host Chinese university team defeated the Japanese university team 99-91 and won the women's basketball championship at the Chengdu University Games.
As the undisputed ace player of the Chinese college women's basketball team, Han Xu competed as a 2019 student majoring in Human Resources Management at Antai School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In the fierce finals, she once again delivered a "quasi triple double" score of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists, providing strong support for the Chinese women's basketball team to reach the top.
In the 2023 season, Han Xu can be called a "model worker" and "iron man" - she has represented the Sichuan women's basketball team in the WCBA, the New York Libertadores in the WNBA, the Chinese women's basketball team in the Asian Cup, and the Chinese university women's basketball team in the Chengdu Universiade. She has won three consecutive championship trophies in the WCBA, women's basketball in the Asian Cup, and women's basketball events at the Universiade.
Han Xu's relentless rotation has caused some heartache among many Chinese basketball enthusiasts. Even before the Chengdu Universiade, they had expressed doubts: as a professional player, Han Xu's competition for the Universiade was not a professional amateur, would it exhaust her, and was it necessary to "play hard" like this?
A student from Jiaotong University, fighting for the Universiade with a legitimate name
When the on-site DJ reported "China Team 21 Han Xu", the stands erupted with the warmest applause. Every on-site fan understands that the balance of victory and defeat in the confrontation between the Chinese and Japanese women's basketball teams at the Universiade is basically in the hands of Han Xu. As a core player and ace center of the Chinese women's basketball team who just won the Asian Cup championship, Han Xu was awarded the Best Player of the Finals and the Most Valuable Player of the tournament at that time. Coming to the Universiade this time, Han Xu faced any opponent with a dimensionality reduction blow.
Before the final, Han Xu averaged 19.5 points and 8 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of 63.5%; In the final, Han Xu's 18 points and 10 rebounds remained stable, but her high 9 assists indicated that she was "both a father and a mother" - not only ensuring scoring on the offensive end, but also connecting teammates through experiential passing, and contributing the team's highest 10 rebounds on the defensive end.
"Without Han Xu, the Chinese team would definitely lose this game. Fortunately, we have this super ace!" sighed a colleague working in the sports department of a central media. After the game, Han Xu also updated the content on social media as soon as possible: "From playing together in junior high school to a big friendship, fighting side by side again! No matter which field we are on, we are the best! This summer is coming to an end, but the path of brilliance for the Chinese women's basketball team is never over and needs to be continued!"
"Isn't Han Xu a professional player? How did she get to play at the Universiade? Does she have a college admission notice?" An unknown netizen had raised a question before the start of the women's basketball competition at the Chengdu Universiade. However, as early as the Chinese women's basketball team won the Asian Cup championship, a congratulatory message from Shanghai Jiao Tong University gave the answer: Han Xu, who is 24 years old this year, is from Hebei and is studying at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a prestigious university in Shanghai. The qualification determination of participants in the Chengdu Universiade is based on their university status; Han Xu is not only the ace national player of the Chinese women's basketball team, but also a student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University - she represents the Chinese team in the Universiade without any problems.
Personal choice, fighting for the country deserves respect
Han Xu has more than one athlete identity: at the domestic club level, she is a player of the Sichuan women's basketball team; At the university level, she is also a student of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; At the professional club level, she is also a signed player for the New York Libertadores in the United States. Representing the Chinese university women's basketball team in the Chengdu Universiade is Han Xu's personal choice and should be respected by more people.
Previously, after winning the Asian Cup championship 12 years later, Han Xu, who won both the tournament and the NBA Finals MVP, returned to the New York Libertadores without stopping and decided to continue her third WNBA season. On July 4th, Han Xu revealed early that she plans to compete in the Chengdu Universiade. "I am very happy to participate in the University Games. It is a grand sports event, and all the best university athletes from around the world will participate. I also hope that our team can achieve good results and continue to add glory to our country.".
Han Xu, who received professional training from a young age, even became a professional player and professional player after graduating from high school. However, it was his first time representing China in the Universiade at his doorstep. This brought her a completely different sense of participation from domestic and foreign clubs, as well as the Chinese women's basketball national team. "Because I often play outside, I envy the life of college students who learn and play basketball at the same time, and I really rarely experience this kind of atmosphere." Han Xu even filmed a vlog to commemorate her trip to the Universiade during the competition. In the video, Han Xu shared the food in the Universiade Village, the women's basketball changing room after the game, and even wanted to visit a volunteer home.
As expected, Han Xu will return to the New York Libertadores in the WNBA after representing the Chinese college women's basketball team to win the championship, marking her third WNBA season. However, the New York Libertadores have world-class players like Stuart and Jones this season, which has greatly compressed Han Xu's playing time. Han Xu chose to compete in the Chengdu Universiade, considering increasing his competition time; In addition, as a member of the domestic Sichuan women's basketball team, Han Xu has no reason to refuse the Chengdu Universiade. She can be considered as the top half of the "host player".
As expected, Han Xu will continue to represent the Chinese women's basketball team in the Hangzhou Asian Games in September. Many fans are very sorry for Han Xu, "Han Xu, don't be too tired. He is the treasure of the Chinese women's basketball team, don't get hurt. The donkeys of the production team need to rest, let alone the top star of the women's basketball team. Hurry up and rest well!"
Han Xu responded to this after the first game of the Universiade, "I was originally a college student and I really want to play for the country. As long as my physical condition allows, I will allocate my time reasonably. I know that everyone has high expectations for me, and I also hope that I can play football in a healthy and healthy manner. I will be more careful and not do unnecessary dangerous movements myself."
Beyond gold medals, take a long-term view to see shortcomings
Even with the support of superstars like Han Xu, the process of Chinese university women's basketball team winning the championship was not easy, and the score remained tight for most of the finals. The Japanese women's basketball team insists on the full court pressing tactics, and sacrifices the traditional playing method of the overall basketball. Although the Chinese women's basketball team has two Rocket level centers, Han Xu and Liu Yutong, the advantage is not obvious in the face of the Japanese team's "small quick smart" tactical style, and it is very difficult to win in the end.
"This game is so dangerous. If it weren't for Han Xu, we would definitely lose. China played so fiercely both inside and outside the game, but it was still so difficult to win in the end. It must be admitted that the technical and tactical abilities of the Japanese team, as well as the overall level, have reached an extremely high level. However, the bottleneck of the height of the inside players has further improved." A Chengdu fan who works for a green enterprise brought his daughter to watch the game, and after the game, he expressed his thoughts that "winning is very thrilling".
In the author's opinion, although the Chinese women's basketball team has won consecutive championships in the Asian Cup and Universiade, and is now at its peak, a gold medal does not mean flawless perfection. After winning the championship, it is even more important to be vigilant, seek out its own shortcomings, and strive to improve and make up for its shortcomings. The current Chinese women's basketball team is very similar to the Chinese men's basketball team more than a decade ago, and is in the peak period of talent explosion, especially in the center position.
The peak period of the Chinese men's basketball team was the era of the three major centers led by Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and Yi Jianlian. With them, the Chinese men's basketball team was not only invincible in Asia, but also able to compete against the dominant American men's basketball team in the Olympics and World Championships, and show its momentum. Nowadays, Chinese women's basketball players such as Han Xu, Li Meng, Li Yueru, and Yang Liwei have appeared on the WNBA field, and the emerging "big baby" center Liu Yutong is also a gem. However, compared to the surge of internal talent, the guard skills of the Chinese women's basketball team are relatively rough and the ball path is single. In front of Japanese players who have solid basic skills, high ball scores, and good cooperation, the Chinese women's basketball team still relies on individual talent rather than overall cooperation to play.
In fact, currently the Chinese women's basketball team is not short of people, but after this group of players, the next five years have fallen into the embarrassing situation of "lacking fresh blood". On July 16th, in the U19 Women's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese youth women's basketball team completed a 32 point comeback by the Egyptian women's basketball team; On the same day of the U16 Women's Basketball Asian Cup, the Chinese Youth Women's Basketball Team ranked sixth in the competition with a record of 1 win and 3 losses, creating the worst record for the Chinese women's basketball team in the U16 Asian Championships... The unexpected losses of the Chinese Youth Women's Basketball Team attracted the attention of fans, and also made more people understand the hidden worries of the Chinese women's basketball team's youth training behind the peak of the "golden generation".
Previously, a WCBA club manager gave a number in an interview with Xinhua News Agency: "Currently, there are only about 200 women's basketball players in China who can play, and there are still some who cannot reach the level of competition and can only be used as companions and supplements for daily training." Currently, due to a lack of successors, the Chinese men's basketball team can only improve its strength through naturalization: American player Kyle Anderson has Chinese ancestry and has recently joined Chinese nationality under the operation of the Chinese Basketball Association and relevant parties, and will soon represent the Chinese men's basketball team. Obviously, the development trajectory of the Chinese men's basketball team has also sounded an alarm for the Chinese women's basketball team. Even though life is easy at present, we must be prepared for the future. We cannot simply rely on having ace players like Han Xu to reap championships and neglect sowing seeds for the future.
