Xu Limin: I didn’t expect to beat Australia. I feel good about the fighting spirit of the players.

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 30 (Reporters Su Bin and Li Bowen) With the runner-up result of the Women’s Basketball Asian Cup, the Chinese women’s basketball team returned to Beijing on the 30th. Head coach Xu Limin said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that this Asian Cup has achieved its purpose of training new players, and he was moved by the fighting spirit of the players.

Due to preparations for the Military Games and injuries within the team, the Chinese women's basketball team did not send its strongest lineup to compete in the Asian Cup held in Bangalore, India. Newcomers such as Guo Zixuan, Chen Minling and Shi Xiaoye got the opportunity to play, and they also made certain contributions to the team's offense and defense in different games. The Chinese team fought to the last second with the Japanese team in the finals on the 29th local time, and ultimately lost to their old rivals and missed out on the championship.

Before the Chinese women's basketball team went to the competition, Xu Limin said that the team's primary goal is to get into the top eight of the Asian Cup, thereby qualifying for the second window of the Tokyo Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Under this premise, young players can be trained and prepared for subsequent games.

"(The goal) has been achieved." Xu Limin said that considering injuries, newcomers and overall strength, he is not very sure about this team. "Guaranteeing the top eight in the (Asian Cup) is our biggest goal. After this is achieved, the goal is to strive for a better ranking. Because the better the ranking, the stronger the teams we will contact later, the greater our training purpose."

Xu Limin said that in this process, he faced the Australian team first, because he had lost to the opponent by a large margin in the three warm-up matches before the Asian Cup. He hoped that the team would focus on narrowing the gap. Unexpectedly, he was able to bite to the end and defeat the opponent. This increased the team's confidence and proved that the team had chosen the right direction in the previous stage of training.

He thought it was a 4-6 draw against the Japanese team. "It is not easy to compete with the opponent until the last second in this situation. I am very infected by the fighting spirit of these players. Although they lost and did not win the championship, they did not give up when encountering difficulties. Everyone was able to withstand such a strong lineup, such a complete and good condition of the Japanese team until the last second. This is gratifying, and it laid a good foundation for the second window period."

The same result as the Asian Cup semi-finals two years ago, the Chinese women's basketball team once again lost to the Japanese team with a 3-point disadvantage. In Xu Limin's view, the Japanese team's inside offensive strategy has been enhanced compared to before, and there have also been certain changes in the decisiveness of outside shooting and the flanking of the Chinese team's inside players. This provides a good reference for the Chinese team's subsequent games.