Is basketball going the soccer way?

Since the Chinese men's basketball team has participated in all the nine Olympic Games since 1984, hopes were high that it would qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But after China lost to Nigeria 73-86 in the classification round for teams outside the top 16 in the Basketball World Cup on Sunday, those hopes have been dashed.

Although China can still win a ticket to Tokyo via the Olympic consolation match in June next year, the chances are remote, as the consolation matches would be even tougher than the FIBA World Cup considering that 24 teams from around the world including Lithuania, Germany, Turkey and Croatia will compete for the last four places in Tokyo. Which means there is just a theoretical possibility that the Chinese men's basketball team will play in Tokyo.

Although Yao Ming, basketball legend and chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, blamed himself for China's poor performance - before being defeated by Nigeria, China lost to Poland and Venezuela, and won against Cote d'Ivoire and the Republic of Korea - the gap between China and the world's leading basketball countries has widened for which Yao alone is not responsible.