Widening the net in China's talent trawl

China's National Youth Basketball Open (NYBO) is widening its reach as the country bids to unearth the next Zhou Qi.

The brainchild of Chinese sports company Starz Sports, the NYBO hopes that its expanded schedule for 2018 will encourage more kids to pick up basketballs.

Last year's inaugural edition featured over 800 games in ten cities across China, attracting over 3,000 young players aged between 4 and 14 years old.