Chinese Women’s Basketball vs Serbia Preview: Li Yueru in Focus, Need for Chinese Women’s Basketball’s Outside Shooting to Reheat

On July 31st, the Chinese women’s basketball team will face off against Serbia in their second group stage match of the Paris Olympic Games.

Serbia has a historical record of eight matches against the Chinese women’s basketball team, with China winning three and losing five, putting them at a disadvantage. In the elimination round of the Tokyo Olympics, China’s women’s basketball team was eliminated by Serbia and thus missed out on the quarterfinals.

In their first match, despite leading by five points with only 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Chinese women’s basketball team lost in overtime to Spain after being pushed into it. Li Yueru scored an impressive 31 points with 15 rebounds, while Li Meng added 13 points and 11 assists, Sun Mengran had 10 points, Han Xu scored 8 points, Huang Sijing contributed 9 points and 7 rebounds, and Yang Liewei added 4 points and 8 assists.

Serbia’s women’s basketball team defeated Puerto Rico 58-55 in their first game, with the team managing just 3 points in the final quarter but still securing victory thanks to their strong performance in the first half. Stančković scored 15 points with 10 rebounds, Novićk contributed 14 points and 7 assists, and Kardo scored 10 points.

Throughout their warm-up games and their loss to Spain, the Chinese women’s basketball team has struggled with numerous turnovers, committing far more than their opponents (23 compared to 8). The team needs to work on minimizing errors and improving their offensive efficiency.

In the latest FIBA rankings, China’s women’s basketball team is placed 5th, while Serbia is ranked 8th. However, based on their performance in the first group stage match, the overall condition of the Chinese team is not reassuring. While Li Yueru has shown consistent performance, other players are not at their peak form, particularly outside shooters like Yang Liewei and Wang Siyu, who are significantly below their personal best performances.

From a paper strength perspective, China has a slight advantage, but Serbia, which already has one win, holds the initiative for advancing to the next round. According to the rules, the top two teams from each group advance automatically, and the third teams with the best records from the other groups also qualify. Serbia will undoubtedly strive for a victory, even if it means losing, to optimize their scoring and goal difference. Under immense pressure, the Chinese women’s basketball team must defeat Serbia to secure a relatively favorable position, and ideally, aim for a larger margin of victory.

The outcome of this match remains uncertain. With both teams boasting strong frontcourt players, the team that demonstrates better outside shooting will have a greater chance of winning.

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