Team China celebrate after 2019 International Women's Basketball Chanllenge between China and Senegal in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province on July 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)
China release 12-player list for FIBA Women's Asia Cup.
BEIJING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese women's basketball team has decided on their 12-player squad for the upcoming FIBA Women's Asia Cup, sources told Xinhua on Saturday.
Not fully recovering from injuries, Huang Sijing and Zhang Ru were ruled out from the tournament held from Sept. 24-29 in Bangalore, India.
"Huang Sijing suffered hand fracture, while Zhang Ru was impacted by foot injury. Both players have not fully recovered, thus being unfit for playing matches. They will return to China for rehabilitation for the next phase competition," said the team's head coach Xu Limin.
Han Xu (R) of New York Liberty reacts with Li Meng of Chinese Women's National Basketball Team during a friendship game between New York Liberty and Chinese Women's National Basketball Team in New York, the United States, May 9, 2019. New York Liberty won 89-71. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
Without Huang and Zhang in the squad, the 12 players representing China at the Asia Cup are Han Xu, Yang Liwei, Li Yuan, Wang Siyu, Liu Jiacen, Wu Tongtong, Shao Ting, Gao Song, Guo Zixuan, Li Yueru, Chen Mingling and Shi Xiaoye.
The Chinese team departed on Sept. 13 for their final phase preparation in Australia before heading to India for the Asian basketball competition.
Li Yuan (C) of China shoots the ball during a friendly women basketball match between China and Australia in Canberra, Australia on Sept. 19, 2019. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)
During their stay in Australia, the Chinese team lost all three warm-up matches against the third-ranked hosts.
China are placed in Group B with Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. The eight best placed teams will participate in the next phase Tokyo Olympic qualifiers starting in November. ■
