China basketball fans despair at World Cup ‘deepest humiliation’

BEIJING – Chinese basketball fans were in despair on Thursday after the national team crashed out of the World Cup without winning a game, dubbing the dismal performance as their “deepest humiliation”.

China needed to win their final Group B match on Wednesday night and hope the other results went their way, but were outclassed 107-89 by Puerto Rico. They were beaten earlier by Serbia and debutants South Sudan.

Fans vented on social media, where a hashtag about their three successive defeats in the tournament, co-hosted by Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia, racked up tens of millions of views.

“We’ve never failed to win a single game since we started taking part in the World Cup – this is our deepest humiliation for 45 years,” said one comment on the popular Weibo platform.

“Our performances couldn’t have been any worse, even if I’d been the one leading the team,” another user wrote.

Basketball is hugely popular in China and broadcasts of National Basketball Association (NBA) matches typically draw huge numbers of viewers.

China’s women’s team are a global powerhouse, but the men have failed to meet expectations in recent years despite an infusion of naturalised overseas players.

“If I felt helpless during the first two games, I feel speechless after watching today’s match,” wrote pundit Jia Lei on Weibo. “Perhaps all the expectation in moments like these gives us delusions (of grandeur).”

China, currently ranked 27th in the world, hosted the last men’s World Cup in 2019, but they finished 24th and did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

“If China wants to... rejoin the ranks of the strongest global teams, we must make our domestic leagues more competitive and (better) nurture the talent we have,” wrote another pundit Ran Xiongfei.

Rife corruption and investigations into match-fixing in the Chinese Basketball Association, China’s top domestic league, have dampened many fans’ enthusiasm in recent years.

Some compared the national side unfavourably to an up-and-coming grassroots league whose amateur players include rural farmers.

“Is anybody going to say they even think the men’s team could win in the ‘CunBA’?“ read one Weibo comment using the league’s popular acronym.

The Chinese finally got on the board on Thursday by beating Angola 83-76 in the 17th-32nd placings classification round.

Asian teams had poor outings in the group stage, with only Japan winning one game. The Philippines, Jordan, Iran and Lebanon all drew blanks.

In other games on Wednesday, the United States, Serbia, Spain and Luka Doncic’s Slovenia all advanced to the second round with perfect records.

Georgia, Brazil and Greece also made it past the group stage, as South Sudan and Cape Verde bowed out after impressive debuts.

Puerto Rico went through as runners-up behind Serbia, who beat South Sudan 115-83.

The US qualified as the top team in Group C after cruising to a 110-62 win over Jordan.

Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards took centre stage, scoring 22 points and claiming eight rebounds and four assists in an all-action performance.

Coach Steve Kerr lauded the way his players combined, saying “the chemistry on this team is amazing”.

“It’s fun watching them together, they’re laughing and having so much fun,” he said.

“I don’t need to motivate them – they motivate themselves because they love the game.” AFP, REUTERS