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China Giants Confident for Asian Top honor
Chinese giants Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi demonstrated their confidence in defending the title at the Asian Basketball Championship for men to be started here on Friday.
"We will play at home, our players are in good shape," said the 2.25-meter Yao at the press conference Thursday evening. "I think we should be able to take the crown."
The Shanghai native led the Shanghai Sharks to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league finals before falling 3-1 to the Bayi Rockets, spearheaded by Yao's national teammate Wang Zhizhi, in the 2000-2001 season.
Wang, 2.14, who became the first Asian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) by joining the Dallas Mavericks in March, will build up the Moving Great Wall here with Yao and Ba te 'er, another Chinese towering center at 2.10.
"We should have in mind our responsibility," said Wang, also a Chinese army officer. "We will be playing before the home crowds. I hope we can end up in triumph."
"I think we should also play to our best and show our strength before all the Asian teams," Wang added.
China will play Thailand in its first group match on Friday and the other teams in Group A are Qatar and China's Hong Kong.
South Korea, which was beaten by China in the final of the Asian Championship at Fukuoka, Japan in 1999, has been considered the hosts' strongest opponent for the title and other medal contenders are Japan, Kuwait and Chinese Taipei.
Saudi Arabia, the third-placer at Fukuoka, withdrew from the tournament days before the opening along with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The top two finishers from the biennial Asian championship will qualify for the 2002 World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis, the Untied States.
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