Chinese basketball players aiming to take team to new heights at Fiba Women’s World Cup

Opponents will be looking up to China during the Fiba Women’s World Cup, starting with the United States.

The Americans and everyone else will have to navigate around and over some of the tallest women on the planet: China’s 19-year-old Zhang Ziyu stands 7-foot-3 (2.2 metres).

The US team are already familiar with 6-foot-10 Han Xu from her Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) games with the New York Liberty.

If not for a passport mishap, Zhang and Han would be joined by another centre – 6-foot-7 Li Yueru, who plays with the WNBA’s Dallas Wings. Li posted on social media Wednesday that her passport was lost in the post and she will not be able to compete.

China opens their campaign against the four-time defending champions in Berlin on Friday.

Zhang wasn’t playing when the US beat China 83-61 in the 2022 World Cup final in Sydney for a fourth consecutive gold medal. She made her senior debut at the Women’s Asia Cup last year and helped China capture bronze, averaging 14.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in the tournament.