China's women basketball players are on a mission to overhaul their image as under-achievers after hitting rock bottom in the wake of the Athens Olympics.

The team, led by Australian coach Tom Maher, is in great shape with no more than 90 days to go to the Beijing Games. They are healthy, hungry for victory, and even registered a shock first victory against the US to win a recent Olympic dress rehearsal in Beijing - giving fans something to believe in.

"We have a healthy roster. It is very important for us," Maher said. "Our starting players made some great rehabilitation, now everybody is fit. The healthy roster really gives me a lot of confidence."

China used to be a powerhouse in women's basketball in the 1990s, winning silver medals at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 and at the World Championships in Australia two years later.

But it failed to qualify for the Sydney Games in 2000 and followed this with a string of modest performances on the international stage.

The team finished ninth at the Athens Games and 12th at the Worlds in the following year for its worst performance to date.

However, Maher, 55, has turned things around somewhat by leading his side to beat Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Cuba and the US en route to winning the Women's Basketball Invitational in Beijing last month.

"It's wonderful to beat the US. It's a good thing for morale, giving us belief that we can play against top teams," Maher said.

"Former WNBA player Sui Feifei returned to training after aggravating a left-ankle injury in the WCBA Finals in January. She played through the pain and averaged 21.6 points and 2.6 assists to help Bayi beat Liaoning to win the WCBA title, but has not been fully fit since.

Sui was joined at the national team's training camp by two other newly recovered stars, WCBA Playoff Most Valuable Player Chen Nan and regular season MVP Miao Lijie.

"The return of these talented players brings great changes to the team," Maher said. "I will add some intensity to their training."

Maher, with experience of coaching another underperformer - the Australian national women's team - to a bronze medal at Atlanta1996 and a silver at Sydney 2000, announced during the Asian Games in 2006 that entering the semifinals this August is a "realistic hope".

In the women's draw, China was lumped with the US, New Zealand and Mali in Group B, while South Korea, Australia and Russia make up Group A. Five other qualifiers will be determined at a qualifying tournament in Spain in June.

The US, Russia and Australia are the undisputed top three teams in the world, while the next seven teams, including China, are all pretty even.

"I am satisfied with the draw, I am also satisfied with China's opponents," he said. "Whoever gets into the top four can win games.

"Would it be a big upset to beat one of the big three? Yes. That would be fantastic, but it is not impossible."

(China Daily 05/16/2008 page12)