China Release Women’s Roster for 2012 London Olympics

After naming their strong men’s basketball roster, China released their women’s basketball roster for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics.

China women’s head coach selected a mixture of young and experienced squad, which is expected to fight for a medal in London after advancing to the semifinals of the previous Olympic in Beijing.

Nan Chen, who averaged a team-high 18.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game during the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, is expected to be the focal point of the Chinese squad once again.

Also making the final cut is veteran Miao Lijie, who was the team’s leading scorer of during the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he averaged 17.9 points per game in front of their hometown crowd that year.

As part of their buildup for the London Games, the Chinese women’s squad had two tough test games late last month, defeating New Zealand and Angola in convincing fashions.

The squad also travelled to USA last May and played against WNBA teams and college basketball squads in which coach Sun gauged his squad – describing it as a young, but potent squad.

“Our team is a pretty young team,” Sun said during their USA training camp. “We have good size, height, and our body conditions are pretty good. We have good shooting; our players can shoot the ball very well.”

The Chinese women’s team was drawn in Group A where they will be facing USA, Angola, Czech Republic, Turkey, and Croatia in the preliminary round of the tournament.

China Women’s Basketball Roster for the 2012 London Olympics
Song Xiaoyun
Chen Nan
Ma Zengyu
Chen Xiaoli
Ji Yanyan
Gao Song
Miao Lijie
Zhao Shuang
Guan Xin
Wei Wei
Li Shanshan
Zhang Fan