China News Service, Tokyo, July 20 (Reporter Yue Chuan) The Chinese women's basketball team arrived in Japan on the 19th local time to prepare for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Captain Shao Ting said that the Olympics is a game that the whole team has been preparing for for many years, and I hope everyone can show themselves here.
On July 19, the Chinese women's basketball players and coaches participating in the Tokyo Olympics arrived at Tokyo Narita Airport.
The picture shows women's basketball coach Xu Limin accepting an interview with the media.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan
Among the many national teams that arrived on the same day, the Chinese women's basketball team was the "final" debut, and it was relatively the most difficult.
Starting from the assembly in Beijing at 7 o'clock in the morning, to appearing outside Tokyo's Narita Airport at 7 o'clock in the evening, except for the time difference, the Chinese women's basketball team is still waiting to go to the Olympic Village for nearly 12 hours.
Thanks to the lessons learned from other teams that arrived earlier, the Chinese women's basketball team is mentally prepared for this long waiting time.
This is so, exhaustion has become the common body language of the women's basketball girls.
For Xu Limin, the head coach of the Chinese women's basketball team, this journey is even more difficult.
According to the reporter's understanding, in late April, Xu Limin injured his left foot during the training process.
Although he recovered well during this period of time, for protection and other purposes, Xu Zhizhi could only sit in a wheelchair with his left foot still fixed.
Almost at the same time as he appeared in front of the camera, "Chinese women's basketball coach ruptured Achilles tendon" quickly became a hot search word on Weibo.
Although "a little tired and a little hungry", when Xu Limin talked about the preparations of the women's basketball girls, the "exhaustion" disappeared immediately.
He revealed that the team's recent training status is very good, and everyone is looking forward to the arrival of the Tokyo Olympics.
The Chinese women's basketball team had twice ascended the Olympic podium before, including runner-up in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, which is also the best record in team history so far.
But for today's women's basketball players, these are far away.
Among the 12-man roster of the Chinese women's basketball team, only Shao Ting, Sun Mengran and Huang Sijing have participated in the Rio Olympics. The insiders, "Twin Towers" Han Xu and Li Yueru, are all experiencing the Olympic atmosphere for the first time.
However, it was this young team that not only advanced in advance in the Olympic qualifiers with all three victories, but also defeated the Spanish team, the favorites to win the Tokyo Olympics and the world's third-ranked Spanish team.
While this has accumulated confidence for the team, it has also made the outside world have more expectations for this youth army.
On July 19, the Chinese women's basketball players and coaches participating in the Tokyo Olympics arrived at Tokyo Narita Airport.
The picture shows Yao Ming arriving at Narita Airport.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan
The FIBA website recently released a ranking of the strength of the Olympic women's basketball teams evaluated by relevant experts. The Chinese women's basketball team ranked fourth, and the top three were the United States, Serbia and Australia.
It is understood that the ranking is based on comprehensive considerations such as the recent performance of each team, the list of personnel and preparations.
This means that the Chinese women's basketball team is regarded as one of the popular teams on the podium.
But as Xu Limin said, objective issues lie ahead.
The one-year postponement of the Olympic Games disrupted the preparation process and rhythm of the Chinese women's basketball team. The team encountered a problem that had never appeared before: it was unable to compete with the world's strong teams for a long time and faced more unknowns.
In this Olympics, the Chinese women's basketball team is in the same group as Australia, Belgium, and Puerto Rico.
Xu Limin said that it is the primary goal of the Chinese women's basketball team to display the level and strive to qualify for the group.
Take this step first, and then look at the back.
Shao Ting also said frankly that for this Olympics, everyone has waited for 5 years and hopes that the team will make progress in every game.
As the captain, she also hopes that young players can cherish opportunities, adjust their mentality, focus on the game, and show themselves.
Although it is too late to arrive at the Olympic Village, the Chinese women's basketball team will be engaged in training non-stop on the 20th. According to the plan, the team will complete the first field training in the stadium on the same day.
They look forward to the hard work of the past 5 years, which will bear fruit here.
(Finish)