Chinese center Li finds aim competing with world's elite

WUHAN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese center Li Yueru says she has gained a better understanding of global basketball development from her team's loss to Belgium in the FIBA Women's World Cup qualifiers.

In Thursday's clash, China had a sluggish start and never recovered from it, falling 80-65 to Belgium.

For Li, who just returned to the national team ahead of the tournament from the 3x3 Unrivaled league in the United States, the game was a good lesson.

"We can see how world basketball evolves from this game, it shows us the direction we need to move toward," she said after Friday's training session. "Hopefully we can play basketball with ease and enjoy the game like them in the future."

Li showed her class in Wednesday's opening game against Mali, contributing a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, but was held to 2-of-11 shooting for six points and five rebounds against Belgium.

"After the defeat, the mood is a bit down, but with three games ahead, we need to go all out in our preparations and try to approach the next game with a better mentality," Li said.

"As for myself, I need to improve what I didn't do well and maintain what I did well. Hopefully I can bring more energy tomorrow and make everyone excited on the court," she added.

China and Belgium went head-to-head on many occasions over the past two Olympic cycles. Li, a key figure during this process, has a deeper understanding about the duel than her younger teammates.

"Actually we face them without any fear, and we won many times in the past. But as for yesterday's game, I didn't do well myself, and our team is a mix of veterans and young players, some of my teammates didn't have an experience of playing the world-class team like Belgium," she explained.

With a win-loss record of 1-1, China will play South Sudan, who remains winless after two games, on Saturday. ■