By Xinhua sportswriter Su Bin
JAKARTA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- For Chinese women's point guard Li Yuan, the Asian Games has never been so close even without playing a single game in professional league.
Li, born in 2000, featured in her first match at an international event in senior side on Wednesday, finishing with five points and match-leading seven assists in China's lopsided 110-42 victory over minnows Thailand.
"I played what I had trained, but it was not my best level," Li told Xinhua about her international debut with the Chinese national team.
In 2016, Li partnered with center Han Xu, who also played in her first international event for the national team here, guided China into the final four at the FIBA U-17 Women's Basketball World Cup and they were placed fourth.
Last year, Li helped Shandong claim the Chinese National Games junior division title in Tianjin, finishing 21 points in the final against Guangdong.
Li's glittering performance over the past two years has drawn attention from Chinese women's basketball team head coach Xu Limin, who arduously promoted promising youngsters to the national side in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games since taking over the position in 2017.
One thing to note was that Li has not played a Chinese Women's Basketball Association (WCBA) league match so far.
"I did feel the pressure. After all, this was my first match in senior side at an international event like the Asian Games," admitted Li.
"But I just want to shoulder off the pressure and feel the motivation to move forward, playing at my best level on the court," she added.
Li also drew much experience from her teammates in a young and inexperienced Chinese squad, as none of the 12 players in Jakarta played at last edition of the Asian Games, and only three of them played at the Olympic Games in Rio two years ago.
"It's quite important to stay in a positive mentality in such a major event. I have talked a lot with Shao Ting (captain of the Chinese team), who advised me to do what I need to do, and not think too much," Li pointed out.
"I want to win the Asian Games gold medal here, but that should be achieved game after game and step by step," added the talented point guard, who will face tough challenge from Japan in Friday's duel.
Despite missing several prominent names like Tokashiki Ramu and Yoshida Asami, Japan are still a team to beat for China following the latter's losses in 2015 Asian Championships final and 2017 Asia Cup semifinals.
Japanese backcourt players are tagged with outstanding speed and passing vision, which will pose much more trouble for Li and the Chinese team even though they don't send their first-string team to Indonesia.
"The most important thing is to fight. In order to address problems on the court, We need to prepare everything well off the court," Li said.
