Xu Limin: ''FIBA's new competition system is good for the growth of women's basketball''

AUCKLAND (New Zealand) - China head coach Xu Limin stumbled a bit out of the gates in their first taste of the new competition system for women's at the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2019 in New Zealand.

Their opening loss to Korea 81-80 meant China had less breathing room later on when they faced host nation New Zealand, a game which could have possibly had a spot to the Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament on the line. Coach Xu's squad eventually won over the Tall Ferns and advanced to the next phase, but there was surely some added excitement to the process.

"It's more difficult for every team to qualify [forward], but it's good for the growth of women's basketball," said the head tactician.

Coach Xu still mentions that there is room for improvement for a system that will make games more competitive and exciting, but the excitement level so far heading toward the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has already been pretty high. Prior to their campaign at the Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament, China had already had to go through the FIBA Women's Asia Cup where they won a thriller against Australia and made it all the way to the title game.

Now, they are just one more step away from making it to the big stage in Tokyo next year. China will be hosting one of the four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in Foshan, where only three of the top four teams will be moving on the Olympics.

The draw to determine China's opponents was held at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball on November 27, 2019, with Great Britain, South Korea and Spain drawn to the Foshan tournament.

Coach Xu's team will be a second seed in their group, in part a result of their current spot in the revised FIBA World Ranking Women, presented by Nike. The new ranking system, which was recently updated on November 21, has China claiming the eighth-placed spot with 560.3 points.

"It's hard to say, but it's almost right," said Coach Xu of the new ranking system. "But to be honest, we don't [want to] focus on the rankings. We want to play our best every game."

Focused or not, if China plays their best at every game as Coach Xu is determined to do, he'll find himself and the team shooting up the standings towards the top of the elite in women's basketball.

FIBA