Finally waiting for this day! What did a group of Iron Maidens rely on to equalize the best record in history

With its excellent performance in the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team won the runner-up for the second time in 28 years, equaling its best record in history in the World Series.

Recently, FIBA announced the latest women's basketball world rankings, and the Chinese women's basketball team ranked second in the world with a total score of 676.5 points, up 5 places from before.

"Fearless Cam Ranh" is the "spirit of women's basketball" that the Chinese women's basketball team has been emphasizing since the start of this tournament. In the Women's Basketball World Cup final, the girls once again interpreted what it means to "don't abandon, don't give up".

Wen 丨 Cui Hyuk-yi Observer of the think tank

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1 The year of the fight

"I always wonder, what is more important and sacred than facing an important competition as an athlete?" This sentence comes from the 1958 film "Women's Basketball No. 5" starring Qin Yi.

As the first sports-themed color feature film in New China, this film caused a great response after its release, setting off a "women's basketball boom" in many places.

At that time, Cong Xuedi, a little girl from Shandong, also watched this movie. The idea at that time still impresses her, "Although I was still young at that time, I already had the idea of winning glory for Shanghai and the country." It was this movie that influenced me, and I have been working towards this goal ever since. At that time, I wanted to join the Shanghai team after watching it, and I longed for it, and I wanted to be a member of it, which felt very honorable. ”

At the 21st Olympiad in 1976, women's basketball was included as an official sport.

At the same time, mainland women's basketball developed rapidly. In the early 80s, a group of girls who were in their prime of playing gathered on the women's national basketball team.

Zheng Haixia is one of the more conspicuous. When she was 12 years old, she grew to 1.72 meters tall, which was too abrupt, and she was once ridiculed by her classmates. Later entered Shangqiu Sports School, Zheng Haixia fell in love with basketball. Too tall and without suitable shoes, Zheng Haixia played barefoot. After years of unremitting and hard practice, Zheng Haixia walked all the way from the sports school to the national team.

Beijing girl Song Xiaobo is well-rounded, good at dribbling, variable jumper angles, very flexible bottom line interspersion, and excellent offensive and defensive ends. When the Beijing women's basketball team won the championship at the 1975 National Games, Song Xiaobo was generally optimistic about her potential despite her young age. In the late 70s and early 80s of last century, the name "Song Xiaobo" became a household name and almost became synonymous with Chinese women's basketball.

In 1981, Chen Yuefang, who was only 18 years old and had reached a height of 2.08 meters, was the first player in the Chinese women's basketball team to be more than 2 meters tall. Previously, the average height of the Chinese women's basketball team was only 1.78 meters. With the addition of Chen Yuefang and other players, the average height of the Chinese women's basketball team has increased to 1.83 meters, ranking first in Asia in terms of average height and interior height.

Cong Xuedi, who has been determined to win glory for the country since childhood, has also become a member of the Chinese women's basketball team. Cong Xuedi is only 1.66 meters tall and was once rejected from the basketball gate because of her short stature, but she just made up for the biggest shortcoming of the Chinese women's basketball team.

In the early 80s, the Chinese women's basketball team had a clear advantage on the inside and outstanding scoring ability on the front, and only lacked a qualified point guard to connect them into a strong whole, control the pace of the game, and provide the necessary fire support on the perimeter to contain the defense. In the rules of international games without a three-point line at that time, the selection and training of domestic basketball talents was mainly "big players", and there were few high-level backcourt players like Cong Xuedi who had both basketball IQ and peripheral skills.

In 1983, this group of basketball women led the Chinese women's basketball team to the third place in the first World Championship.

In the group stage against Canada, Chen Yuefang scored 29 points to lead the team to a 74-66 victory. As a substitute, Zheng Haixia averaged 17.2 minutes per game, contributing 7.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.8 blocks, and shooting 59% from the field. As the captain, Song Xiaobo became the leading scorer of the Chinese women's basketball team, scoring 28 points against Yugoslavia. Cong Xuedi has also achieved a "little legend" on the women's basketball court.

Behind the brilliance, there is also pain. Before the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Song Xiaobo had just suffered an ankle fracture. But Song Xiaobo finally helped the Chinese women's basketball team win the Olympic bronze medal in history with his tenacious will and superb technology. Affected by the injury, Song Xiaobo chose to retire after the Olympics and start his coaching career.

2 Moments of brilliance

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the Chinese women's basketball team suffered setbacks in the group stage and were divided into the "death group", with the same group opponents being the United States, Spain and Czechoslovakia. With strong enemies around us, the situation facing the Chinese team is very grim.

In the first game of the group stage against Spain, in the opening 4 minutes, the Chinese team's attack was firmly suppressed by Spain, and no points were scored. This is actually understandable, after all, in addition to Zheng Haixia, Liu Qing and Cong Xuedi, the rest of the starting lineup are first-time Olympic athletes.

The score fell all the way, and head coach Li Yaguang threw the mineral water bottle on the ground in the lounge, "I didn't dare to challenge the opponent, I didn't play at the level of training." With this roar, the players seemed to be awakened by the roar, and everyone bravely launched a wave of offensive.

Of course, winning is also absolutely inseparable from tactics. Li Yaguang has his own understanding of the women's basketball style: the team takes Zheng Haixia as the core, but does not rely on Zheng Haixia. Zheng Haixia can play a role in key moments, and the whole team will play fast after Zheng Haixia is off the court. He advocates more flexible team basketball tactics, which is also the tactic of one star and four stars.

[Note: One star refers to a team's lineup with four pitchers paired with a superstar, and all four pitchers stand on the outside to pull the space, allowing the superstar to hold the ball and single.] 】

In addition, the outside group led by Cong Xuedi is the key to a breakthrough in women's basketball performance. In the semifinals against Cuba, Cong Xuedi played 23 minutes and scored a game-high 20 points, making the Chinese women's basketball team the chief contributor to the Olympic final. As a veteran player, she is the backbone and tactical commander on the field, and every time the team is stuck in a stalemate, it depends on how Cong Xuedi adjusts the rhythm and leads the team to play changes.

The Chinese women's basketball team beat Cuba 109:70 in the semifinals, finishing second by 10 points in the final.

The 1994 World Championships in Australia was also a bumpy road for the Chinese women's basketball team at that time. Cong Xuedi and Liu Qing retired, Zhan Shuping's injury has not healed, Peng Ping has not returned to the team, the strength of the team has decreased compared to 2 years ago, and coaches Chen Daohong and Ma Lianbao have been in office for less than half a year. Therefore, the goal set by the Chinese women's basketball team at this World Championship is to enter the top 6.

At this time, Zheng Haixia was 27 years old and was plagued by injuries. Even so, Zheng Haixia still averaged 26 points per game, shooting more than 80% from the field and free throws. In the semi-final against Australia, the Chinese team got off to a bad start, trailing by more than 10 points at one point. The Chinese team quickly adjusted their playing style and was able to turn the tide of the battle.

When the opponent adopted foul tactics and viciously put No. 5 Li Xin to the ground, Li Xin limped up to the free throw line step by step, making 2 free throws. In the final stage of the game, Li Xin fouled consecutive fouls, making 5 of 6 free throws, and finally eliminated Australia with a score of 66-65. Team member Zheng Wei rushed from the bench to the field to celebrate with everyone, and 28 years later, she became the head coach of this team.

Looking back at the 90s of the last century, the Chinese women's basketball team reached the Olympic Games and World Championship finals in a row. The runner-up results of two consecutive competitions are enough to make the Chinese women's basketball team among the world's top teams.

3 Hardening in success or failure

But for some time after 1994, the Chinese women's basketball team never reached the podium of the World Series.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Zheng Haixia was plagued by injuries for a long time and was no longer physically qualified to participate in fierce competitions. But she still averaged 18.1 points and nine rebounds (first on the team and fourth in the Olympics) and 31 points and 16 rebounds against Japan. However, the Chinese women's basketball team did not have a satisfactory result, winning 1 win and 4 losses in the group stage, ranking 5th in the group, and did not qualify. This is also the last time Zheng Haixia appeared in the Olympic Games.

In the 1999 Asian Championships, the Chinese women's basketball team was squeezed out of the top four and did not even qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games. This defeat also opened the eyes of the young players to their shortcomings and direction of effort.

This year, Gong Luming became the head coach of the Chinese women's basketball team and began to fully employ newcomers. Chen Nan, who was only 16 years old at the time, was selected for the national team, and she was already the first height in the team at that time. She is young, flexible, self-motivated and never lazy. With that tenacity, Chen Nan soon became the main player.

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Chinese women's basketball team returned to the Olympic Games, but the players in the team were generally young and inexperienced, and the Chinese team once again missed the quarterfinals, and the last game of the group stage was eliminated by New Zealand, only finishing ninth. Although the results are not ideal, the growth of young players such as Chen Nan, Miao Lijie, Sui Feifei and other young players still gives hope to the Chinese people.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Sui Feifei, Miao Lijie and Chen Nan have grown into well-deserved cores. "The race just started, and it was very shocking when I ran in that moment, and finally got my place on the stage." Miao Lijie still remembers how he felt when he first appeared.

The girls got off to a good start in their first game with a 67-64 win over European powerhouse Spain. In the third game against New Zealand, Chen Nan had 26 points and 17 rebounds, and the Chinese team successfully "avenged" the battle that was eliminated 4 years ago. In the end, the long-dormant Chinese women's basketball team reached the Olympic Final Four.

After this Olympics, Miao Lijie announced her retirement, but she appeared again at the London Olympics four years later. Even if he is no longer young, his physical strength cannot be compared with that year, and the experience and experience accumulated by Miao Lijie over the years of competition can help the Chinese women's basketball team go further.

After the 2012 London Olympics, Chen Nan said in an interview: "Rio is too far away for me. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Chen Nan, who was 33 years old and gave birth, made a comeback.

In this Olympics, the Chinese women's basketball team suffered unprecedented defeats - losing to the United States by 43 points, losing to Canada by 22 points, losing to Spain by 21 points, losing to Serbia by 8 points, and stopping in the group stage. After the final game, Chen Nan said to the camera: "My mission and mission have been completed, and it is time to leave." Chen Nan's comeback was a microcosm of the lack of Chinese women's basketball at that time.

After the Rio Olympics, the Chinese team decided that something had to change.

In 2017, Xu Limin took over as the head coach of the national team, and the first thing he did after taking office was to hang two photos of Japan's Asian Cup victory on the wall of the training hall. "We have to be able to see it every day, every moment, and we won't take it off unless we defeat them." Defeat once and take off one, defeat twice and take two. ”

4 It's a bunch of Iron Maiden!

Since then, the Chinese women's basketball team has begun a "big change", a group of young players have been selected into the national team, and these "post-95" and "post-00" girls have taken on the responsibility of rebuilding the Chinese women's basketball team. Among them, Li Yueru and Han Xu have grown into the absolute main force of the current Chinese women's basketball team.

In addition, Xu Limin also advocated that while establishing the team's internal height advantage, improve speed, pay attention to changing styles, and learn from high-level teams in Europe and the United States.

In the 2018 Asian Games, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated Japan and regained the Asian Games championship. In 2020, the girls defeated the two major teams of Great Britain and Spain to secure tickets to the Tokyo Olympics in advance. In the subsequent game with South Korea, China defeated its opponent by 40 points, and there was also the classic sentence about the Chinese women's basketball team "can win 100 points, never win 99 points!" ”

At the beginning of 2022, Xu Limin stepped down as the head coach of the Chinese women's basketball team, and assistant coach Zheng Wei took over. She first led the team to the World Cup qualifiers, and then began to prepare for the World Cup. In the training camp for more than 4 months, the entire preparation rhythm was simulating the World Cup. Zheng Wei has always told the players to recognize the position of the team and base themselves on fighting.

Since entering the Chinese women's basketball coaching staff in 2009, Zheng Wei has assisted Sun Fengwu, Ma He, Xu Limin as an assistant coach as three coaches, experienced three Olympic Games and all competitions, experienced several troughs of the team, and witnessed many highlight moments, and has an unparalleled understanding of the growth process and playing style characteristics of this group of women's basketball players.

On October 1, 2022, the Chinese women's basketball team competed with the American women's basketball team in Australia to compete for the gold medal of this World Cup. Ten days of fixtures, eight races, Nicholas Rival. Facing the "fierce rival" of the United States, which is ranked first in the world, won the World Cup championship three times and won the Olympic championship seven times, they finally lost to their opponents 61:83 and won the silver medal in the World Cup, equaling the best result in the history of the Chinese women's basketball team participating in the World Series.

"The word 'proud' best reflects how I feel about this women's basketball team." Women's basketball star Song Xiaobo said, "They played the pride of the Chinese team on the court. I am also proud of them, proud that I was a member of the Chinese women's basketball team. ”

The performance of the Chinese women's basketball team has also won the respect of the US women's basketball coach Reeve: "Every year we play against the Chinese women's basketball team, we can continue to see progress from them, I don't want them to continue to improve." ”

5 Different women's sports, same spirit

After the game, the Chinese Basketball Association sent a congratulatory letter to the women's basketball team as soon as possible. It reads: "You have united and fought tenaciously, reaching the final of the World Series for the second time in 28 years, showing the uplifting spirit of Chinese basketball people and the Chinese sportsmanship of winning glory for the country, uniting and cooperating, and fighting tenaciously." ”

From the "women's volleyball spirit" in the 80s of the last century, to the "sonorous rose" in the 90s, and now to the emergence of "Fearless Cam Ranh", although it is a different project, it contains the same sportsmanship, and the birth opportunity is because of inspiring achievements. These synonyms came with the victories of the women's three major balls, and the fighting spirit contained in them inspired countless Chinese people.

For example, in the 80s of last century, in the early days of reform and opening up, the fifth consecutive championship of women's volleyball team became a strong support point for the whole society to strive for strength and revitalize China. Inspired by the "spirit of women's volleyball", all walks of life have enhanced their confidence in pioneering and enterprising.

In the Spring Festival this year, the Chinese women's football team reversed the South Korean team 3-2 under the "desperate situation" of 0-2, and won the Asian Cup for the first time in 16 years.

Although the Chinese women's basketball team did not win the championship trophy this time, the spirit of the strong team daring to fight is also very exciting.

If competitive sports want to win, talent training, solid training, advanced technology, scientific support, etc. are very important factors.

Song Xiaobo once said, "There are few women's basketball broadcasts on TV, it is difficult for people to understand the current situation of women's basketball, from the perspective of various domestic clubs and provinces and cities, there is not enough attention to the construction and development of women's basketball, and too little investment." "We can't just look at the top of the pyramid, we have to cultivate more pyramid bases, there must be bases, and more adolescent girls must participate in basketball, so that we can have more talents to choose from in the future." ”

But the most critical and irreplaceable thing is the spirit of courage to fight, tenacious victory, and never give up.

Believe in each other, fearless Cam Ranh.

Resources:

1. Since 1994, finally waiting for this day, the glory of Zheng Haixia's generation, the Chinese women's basketball team will continue 丨Qianjiang Evening News, 2022-09-30

2. Solid basic skills to play self-confident women's basketball star Song Xiaobo: cultivate more pyramid tower base丨Beijing Daily client, 2022-10-01

3. Examining the Development Direction of Chinese Women's Basketball from the Rise of Japanese Women's Basketball丨Journal of Nanjing University of Physical Education, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2017-04

4. Reveal the man behind the rise of women's basketball: He posted the photo of the Japanese team winning the championship on the wall to inspire everyone丨Jimu News, 2022-10-01

5. Women's basketball coach Zheng Wei: The World Cup runner-up is not the end, and the "twin towers" focus on the future| Beijing News, 2022-10-11

Column editor-in-chief: Gu Wanquan Text editor: Song Hui Title image source: IC photo Photo editor: Shao Jing

Source: Author: Lookout Think Tank