European Prospects

Today, we take a look at the Chinese U17 team that will compete in the World Championships in Hamburg. The article though has not been written by a local Chinese journalist but it is based on different Chinese sources.

There are several players that are worth being mentioned when you talk about the Chinese U17 team which seems pretty strong compared to the U18 team that competed in the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament in Spring. Several Chinese observers believe that this team can be a major surprise at the World Championship but they also want to say that there are (as always) doubts about the passports of several players. Those are supposed to be older than 17 and therefore obviously more advanced than the competition.

Ailun Guo, a 1m90 tall guard, is the nephew of the former Head coach of Team China Shiqiang Guo. Ailun is the captain of the U17 team, he’s real fast with dribble penetrations and his footwork is really incredible. He is a fast, though playing PG, but more like SG. He needs to improve on his shooting ability. Early in June, Ailun scored 34pts against an US youth team in preparation.

Zhelin Wang is a 2m11 tall and 1994 born center with about 230 pounds. His parents both played for the Fujian province team. Zhelin has good potential to be a great player in future, got praise from Slovenian coach after the preparation games.

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Xiaochuan Zhai can play SF,PF and SG. He’s a good rebounder for Team China, but he’s capable of making jump shots as well. During the game against the Australian youth team, he scored 23 pts and 8 boards, making 3 consecutive 3 pointers in the 2nd quarter.

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Han Chen Luo is a little skinny PG who needs to bulk up but has got fast reaction towards ball movement.  He is a fast player with good court vision and can pass the ball with good timing.

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The head coach in Bin Fan who used to play as PG for the Army team in CBA. He got several champions with his teammates. He also played for National team during 2003 in Asian Championship games.

Official Roster for China

Jiguang Bi – 1m85 – Guard – 1993 – DongGuan
Hanchen Luo – 1m86 – Guard – 1994 – DongGuan
Ailun Guo – 1m90 – Guard – 1993 – Liaoning
Pu Wang – 1m98 – Forward – 1993 – Guangdong New Centur
Xuhang Zhu – 2m07 – Forward – 1993 – Guangdong New Centur
Zhelin Wang – 2m11 – Center – 1994 – Fujian
Jiaxin Ma – 1m96 – Guard – 1993 – Henan
Zirui Wang – 1m88 – Guard – 1993 – Zhejiang G.L.
Dong Wei – 2m04 – Center – 1993 – Zheijang C.
Tao Xu – 2m10 – Center – 1993 – Shandong
Xiaochuan Zhai – 2m05 – Forward – 1993 – Beijing
Pengfei Yan – 2m04 – Center – 1993 – Shan

Shen Zhiyu is a Senior Write for Titan Sports, the largest Sports Newspaper in China. He provided us with the Scoutings on the main Chinese players. You can read more from him at www.titan24.com

China qualified by winning the first ever U16 Asian Men Championship last November. China beat South Korea in the Final 104-69 behind 20pts and 17rebs of Xiaochuan Zhai and 19pts of Ailun Guo.