Looking at the Chinese basketball scene in recent times, there are only two people who are responsible for "traffic" - Cui Yongxi, who bravely pursues his dream on the other side of the ocean, and Zhang Ziyu, who killed all sides in the U18 Women's Basketball Asian Cup. The former's impact on the NBA is heart-wrenching, and the talent on display for the latter is exciting.
Zhang Ziyu, who has won super high attention, is an authentic Quancheng girl. In the summer before entering the third year of high school, this Jinan girl, who is more than 2.23 meters tall, attracted the attention of many American media with her highlight performance in the international arena. Some American media wrote in the report: "Considering her height and nationality, many netizens have begun to associate Zhang Ziyu with NBA legend Yao Ming." ”
On the evening of June 30, in the U18 women's basketball Asian Cup final held in Shenzhen, Zhang Ziyu played 26 minutes and contributed 42 points and 14 rebounds, but failed to help the Chinese women's basketball team win the championship trophy. When she received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy of this tournament, Zhang Ziyu had an unconcealable loss on her face - this is the first time she was born in 2007 and wore a national jersey to play in an international competition.
"Zhang Ziyu is a real talent. But she is not like many social media said to be born out of nowhere, she has excellent physical talent, with unremitting efforts step by step to get to where she is today, in the process of growing up, she embodies the hard work of coaches at all levels, and has received care and support from all sides. She is now studying in Shandong Experimental Middle School and also training with the Shandong Women's Basketball Youth Team, which should be said to be a 'successful case' of the integration of sports and education. Zhao Feng, director of the Jinan Ball Sports Center, told the New Yellow River reporter.
Zhang Ziyu was born in a basketball family in Jinan, and his parents were both professional basketball players - his father Zhang Lei was 2.13 meters tall and was a former member of the men's basketball team of Jinan Military Region, and his mother was Yu Ying, a former women's basketball player, who was 1.98 meters tall and was the main center of the Shandong women's basketball team. Growing up in such a family, Zhang Ziyu completed basketball enlightenment early.
In an interview with the New Yellow River reporter, Luan Mingjie, Zhang Ziyu's mentor and head coach of the Shandong Women's Basketball Youth Team, recalled: "I am very familiar with Zhang Ziyu's parents. When I saw this child very early, my first impression was that it was very unusual - a lot higher than his peers, and the basketball quotient was also very high. I still remember when I was training with my eldest children at the sports school, Zhang Ziyu, who was five or six years old, dribbled and ran crazy on the court......"
Benefiting from the excellent genes of the basketball family, Zhang Ziyu has grown taller than children of the same age since he was a child. When she was in the first grade of Wenhua East Road Primary School in Jinan City, she had grown to 1.60 meters. By the sixth grade, she was over 2.10 meters tall. Standing with his classmates, Zhang Ziyu seemed "unattainable". Her classmates joked, "We're six years old now, not as tall as she was when she was in first grade." ”
At the age of 8, Zhang Ziyu began to receive systematic basketball training. Since then, Luan Mingjie has been training her hand-in-hand on the court. Later, Zhang Ziyu entered Jinan Sports School, and Luan Mingjie was even more careful to care for and teach. Luan Mingjie told the New Yellow River reporter: "Zhang Ziyu's type of player can be said to be a once-in-a-few decades, or even a once-in-a-century encounter. To be honest, we haven't met such a player before, so we can only carefully grope and feel the stones to cross the river, just hoping to help her lay a solid foundation and create a good environment for her to grow up, so as not to live up to this talent. ”
In the summer of 2022, in the women's finals of the National U15 Youth Basketball League, Zhang Ziyu shot 31 of 38 from the field, handing over 62 points and 13 rebounds, helping the Shandong High-speed Women's Basketball Team reverse Changzhou Sports School and win the championship of the group. Since then, 15-year-old Zhang Ziyu has made many people remember his name.
Zhang Ziyu on the basketball court is majestic and unstoppable. Zhang Ziyu in life, like his peers, has many hobbies.
When he was in elementary school, Zhang Ziyu had a wide range of interests, and he had good performances in art, music, and dance. Later, she was also obsessed with doing handicrafts, embroidering purses, making sachets, and never tired of it. On the desk in Luan Mingjie's office, there is a "private customized" version of the water cup from Zhang Ziyu's hand. Luan Mingjie told the New Yellow River reporter: "My WeChat name is 'Jie Jie Gao', she took away my water cup after training one day, and brought it back the next day, I found that she painted bamboo on the cup, and the painting was very good." I was very touched at the time. ”
Zhang Ziyu, who is extremely talented, is also an excellent team player. At school, she had a great time with her classmates. In the team, she also has an extremely good relationship with her teammates. Luan Mingjie recalled: "Last year, when the team was training in Kunming for winter training, the coaching staff joked with her and told her to give a bonus of 100 yuan for a dunk. Of course, we did deliver on it later. But every time Zhang Ziyu gets a bonus, he will spend it on his day off and buy a lot of snacks, from the coach to his teammates, everyone has a share. She has a strong sense of teamwork. ”
Luan Mingjie told the New Yellow River reporter that 2023 is a very critical year for Zhang Ziyu's growth. It was in this year that she completed a comprehensive "evolution": "In order to help Zhang Ziyu grow better, we invited a professional physical trainer for her. Last year, Sun Bing, a physical rehabilitation teacher who had previously served in the national team, began to provide guidance specifically to Zhang Ziyu. With the help of Director Sun, Zhang Ziyu's strength and running and jumping ability have made a qualitative leap. As a result, her dominance on the basketball court has also increased significantly. ”
At the end of 2023, at the first Student (Youth) Games held in Nanchang, Jiangxi, Zhang Ziyu performed very well and helped the Jinan women's basketball team win the five-a-side basketball U16 women's championship. At that time, Zhao Feng, who was watching the game at the scene, also really felt the changes in Zhang Ziyu: "Zhang Ziyu is the child we watched grow up. From that match, I felt that her ability to fight and grasp opportunities has improved significantly. After the previous accumulation, she has also gained more experience in the competition, and fully demonstrated her outstanding individual ability. At the scene, Zhao Feng also communicated with Zhang Ziyu, encouraging her to continue to work hard in training and life to "become a better version of herself".
Down-to-earth, the future can be expectedThe U18 Women's Basketball Asian Cup is Zhang Ziyu's first time representing the national team. In fact, before last year's U16 Women's Basketball Asian Cup, Zhang Ziyu was not selected for the Chinese U16 women's basketball team, which caused a lot of controversy. This summer, in his first trip to the international competition, Zhang Ziyu handed over an impressive enough report card.
"The female version of Yao Ming", this is the nickname given to Zhang Ziyu by many netizens. In a post-match interview, Zhang Ziyu also responded to this question: "Since everyone says that I am like Chairman Yao, I will try to be on par with him." In an interview with the New Yellow River reporter, Luan Mingjie revealed: "Our provincial team has hired foreign assistant coaches. We did find Yao Ming's games and training materials during his time with the Houston Rockets. Our idea is very simple, that is, we hope to provide the best growth environment for Zhang Ziyu. ”
Zhang Ziyu's performance in the U18 Women's Basketball Asian Cup has touched the hearts of countless people. Shandong men's basketball celebrity and former national player Ji Minshang also watched Zhang Ziyu's game without landing. Ji Minshang, who is currently the director of competition training of Shandong High-speed Basketball Club, told the New Yellow River reporter: "Zhang Ziyu needs to continue to work physical training, and the speed must keep up. Then there is the need for her to learn to protect herself and avoid injuries as much as possible. This kid trains very hard. We must also keep up with the corresponding security work, including medical treatment and recovery, and give her adequate support. In this age group, Zhang Ziyu is the best group of players in Asia and the world, with outstanding physical talent and solid skills under the basket. In a few years, with the further improvement of technical ability and physical condition, she has every opportunity to contribute to the Chinese women's basketball team. ”
Watching the love of the disciples continue to contribute to the highlight performance in the U18 Women's Basketball Asian Cup, Luan Mingjie is full of satisfaction. "Time flies. I still remember when she was 11 years old, on Children's Day, I went to an event with her, and when I looked up, I suddenly realized that this child was a little taller than me...... Since I started to take her, we often played one-on-one, and I really didn't dare to fight with her in the past two years, she was too strong to resist, I couldn't resist at all, so I could only hide. I still wondered, is it really old myself? Speaking of these, Luan Mingjie smiled dumbly.
Luan Mingjie also has infinite expectations for Zhang Ziyu's future development: "Zhang Ziyu's basketball career has just started. Generally speaking, the prime of a women's basketball player's career occurs between the ages of 23 and 28. We hope that she will take this road step by step, and make steady and solid progress. Today's group of Chinese women's basketball players are very good, Li Meng, Wang Siyu, and Han Xu are all particularly good players. In the future, if Zhang Ziyu, who has grown up, can join the Chinese women's basketball team, what a wonderful lineup will he compose? Does the Chinese women's basketball team have a chance to touch the golden trophy? ”
In this southern summer night, Zhang Ziyu tried his best, but failed to help the Chinese U18 women's basketball team lift a golden trophy. But in everyone's youth, there may always be such and such regrets. In the years to come, she will still have a lot of opportunities to fight for the country and win glory for the country. This basketball girl from Quancheng has gained the attention of the world.
For Zhang Ziyu, who is only 17 years old, this summer night full of regrets may be the starting point of thousands of miles of wind and clouds, and it is also a prologue to a legend.
Reporter: Yao Zheng Liu Jie Editor: Hou Chao Proofreader: Li Li American Editor: Li Jialin Comprehensive Editor: Yao Zheng