{"id":836749,"date":"2026-09-05T00:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T00:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/836749\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T00:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T00:10:10","slug":"chinas-7-foot-3-zhang-ziyu-looms-over-opponents-on-debut-at-womens-basketball-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/836749\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu looms over opponents on debut at Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CIAR\u00c1N FAHEY<\/p>\n

BERLIN (AP) \u2014 China\u2019s Zhang Ziyu had everyone looking up to her on the opening day of the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup on Friday.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old Zhang is 7-foot-3 and gave the United States a tough physical challenge to overcome in the four-time defending champion\u2019s opening 94-61 victory<\/a> at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.<\/p>\n

Zhang is taller than basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O\u2019Neal and just an inch shorter than San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama.<\/p>\n

\"UnitedUnited States\u2019 Aliyah Boston blocks China\u2019s Zhang Ziyu during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup match between China and the United States in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)<\/p>\n

The 6-3 Aliyah Boston looked small in comparison as she stubbornly held her ground to hold Zhang scoreless in the first quarter. Kiki Iriafen, also 6-3, took her turn later as the American defense focused on limiting the damage Zhang could cause over the 18 minutes she played.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much you can do to stop her when she gets it really close to the basket,\u201d U.S. coach Kara Lawson said. \u201cShe was really efficient from the free throw line as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a buzz of excitement any time Zhang appeared on court and ultimately the teenager finished with 13 points on her worlds debut, nine of those from free throws.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would give her a pass,\u201d China coach Gong Luming said in translated comments. \u201cIt\u2019s excellent, pass or fail, so pass. As a young player to play against such great level of intensity and physicality, she\u2019s doing OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawson was more forthcoming with her praise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a hard time and she got too close, and she makes you pay with that. So I think there\u2019s a lot of upside to her,\u201d the coach said. \u201cShe\u2019s still a very young player but I think to be this young and to be in a World Cup and to go against the top players is only going to help her continue to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

China\u2019s tall centers<\/p>\n

Zhang had support from 6-10 Han Xu, already familiar to the U.S. team from her WNBA games with the New York Liberty.<\/p>\n

If not for a passport mishap, Zhang and Han would have been joined by another center \u2014 6-7 Li Yueru, who plays with the WNBA\u2019s Dallas Wings. Li posted on social media Wednesday that her passport was lost in the mail<\/a> and she won\u2019t be able to compete.<\/p>\n

Han finished with 11 points including one three-pointer.<\/p>\n

\"United<\/p>\n

United States\u2019 Aliyah Boston, left, and Angel Reese guard China\u2019s Zhang Ziyu during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup match between China and the United States in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n<\/p>\n

\"China\u2019s<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Zhang Ziyu United States\u2019 Kiki Iriafen during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup match between China and the United States in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n<\/p>\n

\"United<\/p>\n

United States\u2019 Kiki Iriafen blocks China\u2019s Zhang Ziyu during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup match between China and the United States in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n<\/p>\n

\"Han<\/p>\n

Han Xu of China practices during a training session ahead of the match between China and United States during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n<\/p>\n

\"Han<\/p>\n

Han Xu of China practices during a training session ahead of the match between China and United States during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n<\/p>\n

\"Han<\/p>\n

Han Xu of China during a training session ahead of the match between China and United States during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n<\/p>\n

\"China<\/p>\n

China women\u2019s Basketball team practices at the Uber arena ahead of their match against United States during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

United States\u2019 Aliyah Boston, left, and Angel Reese guard China\u2019s Zhang Ziyu during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup match between China and the United States in Berlin, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nZhang\u2019s special preparations<\/p>\n

Zhang did individual exercises with a personal trainer while the rest of the team warmed up on the court before Friday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Gong said the player needed a special training regime because of her physical attributes.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a very special and unique player with her size so she probably cannot have the same warmup routine with everybody else running the layup, passing, so the coaching team designed her own program for her to warm up and keep her fit and ready for the game,\u201d the coach said.<\/p>\n

Zhang missed China\u2019s pre-tournament warmup against France on Tuesday and wasn\u2019t practicing during the brief time slots open to media Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has (a) big body and tall girl, and she needs some time to rest a little bit,\u201d Han told the Associated Press on Wednesday, alluding to her personalized training regime.<\/p>\n

Worlds debut<\/p>\n

Zhang wasn\u2019t playing when the U.S. 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\u2019s Asia Cup last year and helped China capture the bronze, averaging 14.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in the tournament.<\/p>\n

Han praised her performance at that tournament and said she was now ready to step onto the world stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorld Cup is a good moment for her, for the whole world to know her,\u201d Han said. \u201cI am so excited to play with her again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both of Zhang\u2019s parents played basketball and it was her mother who encouraged her to take up the sport.<\/p>\n

As one of the oldest players in the Chinese roster at 26, Han takes on the responsibly of looking out for her younger teammates. She pointed out that Zhang is still \u201cvery young\u201d and just starting her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a little girl, you know, like the heart is soft,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s ambitions for the World Cup<\/p>\n

Few expect China to go further than it did in 2022, with France and Australia expected to be the most likely challengers to the U.S. But Zhang\u2019s introduction gave the Chinese an extra weapon they didn\u2019t have four years ago.<\/p>\n

China next plays the Czech Republic on Sunday.<\/p>\n

AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

See AP\u2019s full WNBA coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By CIAR\u00c1N FAHEY BERLIN (AP) \u2014 China\u2019s Zhang Ziyu had everyone looking up to her on the opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":836750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[354328,354327,23,144,3,21,19,22,20,25,24,352578,197440],"class_list":["post-836749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-7-foot-basketball-player","tag-7-foot-3-basketball-player","tag-america","tag-china","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-womens-basketball-world-cup","tag-zhang-ziyu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}