Primed and ready for battle

With its depth tested, flaws exposed and young guns firing well on a triumphant group-stage run, the Chinese women's squad is braced for even tougher battles en route to retaining its Asia Cup title, starting with the semifinals.

Of course, its first three wins, all in commanding fashion, looked quite convincing, as did towering prodigy Zhang Ziyu, whose imposing dominance in the paint has left opponents, fans and pundits at the FIBA continental showpiece in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, in awe.

No one on the host team, though, is getting carried away by the feel-good run, as it gears up for a likely semifinal clash against its East Asian neighbor Japan, another continental powerhouse, on Saturday at the Shenzhen Sports Center Gymnasium.

China's head coach Gong Luming has reiterated that, following the additional "warm-ups" of the group stage, his team has still not shown its full potential yet.

"These three wins here, and the six scrimmages we played before the tournament, are all part of the building process," Gong said after guiding Team China to a rout over New Zealand 85-51 in its final Group A match on Wednesday.

"We are still a developing side, put together only three months ago. Building team chemistry is a long process. We are taking shape as a competitive unit, but still need to improve some details and our consistency.

"We need to play smarter, with more togetherness and with more creativity (going into the knockout stage)," said Gong, who returned in February for a second stint at the helm after leading the women's team to the 2001 Asian championship and 2002 Asian Games titles.

After breezing past Indonesia, South Korea and New Zealand, with an aggregate winning margin of 107 points, Team China has directly secured a final-four spot, where it will face the winner of an additional semifinal qualifying game on Friday between New Zealand and Group B runner-up Japan.

Group B winner Australia has also earned a direct path to the semis, where it will face either South Korea or the Philippines on the other half of the bracket.

Japan's head coach Corey Gaines, although still having to get through the Tall Ferns, has thrown down a gantlet to the host.

"If my team plays the way (it did) tonight, we have confidence (that we can beat China)," Gaines said of a potential third meeting between the two Asian rivals in the space of a month, after his team was overpowered by Australia 79-67 in a Group B fixture on Tuesday.

In June, Japan lost both of its pre-tournament warm-ups with China.

Gong, however, has reminded his players to focus on themselves.

" (He is) bluffing, or trying to pump his team up. All coaches have their own way to prepare for an important game," Gong said of Gaines' remarks.

"I do hope they play as hard against us as they did in the first half against Australia, not as incompetently as they did in the second half.

"We just need to pay more attention to maximizing our own strengths. And, if we can do that, I don't think we need to worry about whoever we meet in the semis."

Teen phenom rises

As perhaps the most fascinating prospect to watch at the Cup tournament, China's young, 2.26-meter-tall center Zhang Ziyu has navigated her senior-level international debut smoothly enough to raise instant expectations for her future career.

The 18-year-old Shandong native, despite being limited by coach Gong to only 12 minutes per night, has averaged 14.3 points — the most among all of the centers competing in Shenzhen — and four rebounds during the group stage.

Apparently not having displayed her full power yet, Zhang's imposing size and soft shooting touch around the rim have wreaked havoc in the paint, both offensively and defensively, leaving fans eagerly anticipating her performance in the semis should Gong give her more game time.

"She has a very special talent, and she puts tons of pressure on the opponents," Gong said. "However, she still needs to polish some areas of her game. She has a long way to go."

Opponents have taken notice, as well, after having to measure up against a towering threat so talented and so rarely seen in the modern women's game.

"I just heard the stadium got really loud. I see one really tall girl (Han Xu), and then I see another one, the really tall one (Zhang), and she's even younger than me," Indonesia's 19-year-old guard Bella Hasan recounted after facing Zhang for the first time.

"It was an interesting experience to see someone so young, so tall and so dominant in the game."

Zhang's own teammates are equally excited about her potential, and are wishing her a smooth, and most importantly, safe journey to maturity.

"She is very young, but very famous now," said fellow center Han, a former WNBA player and the 2023 Asia Cup's MVP.

"If we play on the court together, I can easily pass the ball from the high post to her, and that makes the offense so fluid. I am very excited to play with her for China here, and in more tournaments in the future," said the 25-year-old who played two separate WNBA seasons with the New York Liberty in 2019 and 2022.