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Youth team center replaces injured Yao for Stankovic Cup

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-07-27 08:25

BEIJING - China coach Jonas Kazlauskas called up youth team center Li Xiaoxu for the upcoming 2007 Stankovic Continental Cup as regular starters Yao Ming, Du Feng and Chen Jianghua all set to miss it due to injury.

The Lithuanian named a 15-strong squad Thursday before the Chinese basketball national team departs for the tournament, which is to be held in Guangzhou, south China from July 28 to August 2.

Li was the only new recruiter of the team, while the other 14 all participated in the just concluded National Basketball Association (NBA) Summer League in the United States.

Former NBA player Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian, who was picked by Milwaukee Bucks in this year's draft, will lead field for China in the Stankovic Cup, as the team's soul Yao had announced to skip this summer's all competitions after injuring his toe with Houston Rockets.

Yao will soon be back in Shanghai to have his rehabilitation training before coming to Beijing to join the national team on August 8, while Chen Jianghua and Du Feng, who got injured during their stay in the U.S., have not yet decided when to come back.

The 2007 Stankovic Cup has featured 6 teams from all five continents, with national teams of Slovenia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Angola, as well as D-League Ambassadors' team, joining the hosts China in the event.

Following is the 15-man squad of China named by Jonas on Thursday:

Li Nan, Wang Zhizhi, Mo Ke, Wang Zhongguang, Ding Jinhui, Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, Wang Lei, Li Xiaoxu, Zhou Peng, Liu Xiaoyu, Liu Wei, Zhang Songtao, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue.