China men’s basketball team triumphs in World Cup Qualifier

On February 24th, China men’s basketball team destroyed Syria men’s basketball team in their last FIBA World Cup qualifying game, beating the Syrian team by 90-59 in a 31-point blow out win. This came just one day after the Chinese team took a 24-point loss, 62-86, game against the Jordan team.

The Chinese team’s starting lineup was led by former NBA player of the Housten Rockets, Zhou Qi, followed by Indian Chen, Rui Zhao, Qian Wu, and Abudushalamu Abudurexiti. The Syrian team’s lineup consisted of Magd Harbasha, Abdulwahab Alhamwi, William Alhaddad, Hani Adribe, and Omar Cheikh Ali. The game started with Zhou Qi getting a block on the defensive side and then hitting a transition three on the next offensive play. At the end of the 1st quarter, Syria was leading against China 18-12 with a 6 point lead. During the 2nd quarter, the Chinese team outscored their opponent by 12 points to gain a 6 point lead by halftime. The point difference between the teams continued to increase throughout the remainder of the game, with China gaining a game-high 35-point lead on their opponents in the 4th quarter. Chinese center Zhou Qi dominated at both ends of the game. In the 31 minutes he played, he scored 32 points, and furthermore had 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 4 steals. He maintained a 64.7% shooting accuracy and a 50% 3-point accuracy.

This year’s FIBA World Cup will be held in China. Eight different venues across China will be used to host the games, including the Cadillac Arena in Beijing, the Mercedes-Benz Area in Shanghai, the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park Gymnasium in Nanjing, the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, and the Guangzhou International Sports Arena in Guangdong. There are 32 different national teams from across Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceania competing in this tournament. The China FIBA World Cup will begin on August 31 and end on September 15. In these 16 days, a total of 92 games will be played as each team strives to lift the trophy.

Featured Image – Zhou Qi dominating in the paint. Courtesy of Zouk Mikael