This time I want to get it back, the Chinese women's basketball team has won a big 45 points! Lost 12 Years of AFC Champions League Women's Basketball | Asian Cup | Chinese Women's Basketball Team

Li Meng scored 12 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds this game.

After a 9-month hiatus, the Chinese women's basketball team made its international debut again after winning the runner up in last year's World Cup.

On the 26th, the Chinese women's basketball team won 89-44 against Lebanon by 45 points, achieving a good start to the 2023 Women's Basketball Asian Cup.

The Chinese women's basketball team, which has 10 players playing for more than 10 minutes and 11 players scoring points, clearly hopes to gain more in this tournament compared to winning.

Single section 22-2, this is the dominant force of the Chinese women's basketball team

Compared to the last second match between South Korea and New Zealand in the same group, the Chinese women's basketball team only allowed the suspense to last for one quarter.

Faced with Lebanon, who was ranked last in the international rankings of this year's Asian Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team did not quickly enter the first quarter of the season. Even the only player in the Lebanese team, Elias, who was over 1.9 meters tall, made two consecutive high arc shots in front of Han Xu, giving Lebanon a 13-10 lead over the Chinese women's basketball team.

So head coach Zheng Wei called out a pause and emphasized, "You need to keep up a bit, you can't let her shoot, she won't break through, she will shoot." Han Xu also intervened and said, "Whatever the center calls, defend yourself."

After this pause, the Chinese women's basketball team launched a 10-2 attack wave at the end of the first quarter, completing a comeback on the 23rd and 21st of the first quarter. Since then, the Lebanese women's basketball team has not seen any chance of a comeback.

In fact, the handling of the Chinese women's basketball team this game was not good. Except for Luo Xinyu, who made 4 out of 5 3-pointers, the other players made a total of 4 out of 22 3-pointers. In the first half, only 2 3-pointers were scored, but this did not affect the dominance of the Chinese women's basketball team.

In the third quarter of the game, the Chinese women's basketball team forced Lebanon to commit 24 second violations and strong shots several times, ultimately resulting in a 22-2 lead, completely rendering the game suspenseful.

After the game, head coach Zheng Wei said, "Usually the first game is not easy to play, but as the game deepens, we are getting better and better on the defensive end. This team has a short combination time and needs more adjustment."

This is not the first time that the Chinese women's basketball team has faced the Lebanese women's basketball team. The last time the two teams met in an official FIBA match was in the 2011 Women's Basketball Asian Cup, when the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the Lebanese team 79-58.

12 years ago, it was also the last time the Chinese women's basketball team won the Asian Cup championship.

In this Asian Cup, even though Li Yueru, Huang Sijing and others were absent due to injuries, Zheng Wei said about the team's goals: "We first need to ensure the qualification spots for the Olympics, and at the same time, through group stage adjustment, strive for the best results."

Compared to being a newcomer a few years ago, the average age of the Chinese women's basketball team today is 26 years old, and it has gradually freed itself from being immature and immature, starting to move towards maturity and stability.

Leading the New with the Old, with the Goal of Winning the Asian Cup

Although they won, both Zheng Wei and Han Xu emphasized the word "break in" after the game.

For this Chinese women's basketball team, this year's Asian Cup is a game that requires both winning and training new players.

Originally, the Chinese women's basketball team, which had no major competition tasks, hoped to train young players through the Asian Cup, while also allowing Han Xu, Li Meng, and others to go to the WNBA to "practice".

However, the FIBA has cancelled the Olympic qualification qualifiers originally scheduled for November this year, allowing teams that have reached the semi-finals of the Women's Basketball Asian Cup to qualify for the women's basketball qualification matches at the Paris Olympics in February 2024, as well as secure a spot in the 2026 Women's Basketball World Cup.

The importance of the competition has escalated, and with the absence of Li Yueru, Huang Sijing, and Wu Tongtong due to injuries, the Chinese women's basketball team had to call up Han Xu and Li Meng, who played in the WNBA, and bring some new faces to the game, including Yang Shuyu born in 2002, Luo Xinyu born in 2001, and Tang Yu born in 1999.

In his debut for the national team, Luo Xinyu made 4 out of 5 shots outside the three-point line, contributing 12 points and 2 steals. It is worth mentioning that before the start of this tournament, FIBA selected five promising Asian Cup stars, and Luo Xinyu was among them.

In the following two days, the Chinese women's basketball team will face New Zealand, who are ranked fifth in the Asian Cup, and South Korea, who are ranked fourth. As long as they win both games, they will be able to secure the qualification to participate in the Paris Olympics women's basketball tournament.

From the perspective of performance, the Chinese women's basketball team has an absolute psychological advantage over both teams.

The last time the Chinese women's basketball team met with New Zealand was in the 2019 Asian Cup, when the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the New Zealand team by 23 points. The last encounter with the South Korean team was in the group stage of the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup, where the Chinese women's basketball team won 63 points against the South Korean women's basketball team.

Although the Chinese women's basketball team won a silver medal in the Women's Basketball World Cup in Sydney last year, the last time the team won the Asian Cup championship was in 2011, 12 years ago.

Nowadays, this old and new women's basketball lineup is clearly aimed at winning the championship - as Zheng Wei said before the game, "No matter which players we have, we must strive to achieve 100% even if there is only 1% hope."