After the group stage, she scored 13 points, the most in this tournament, during the additional knockout stage for the right to play in the quarterfinals, when China defeated Puerto Rico 75:72.
Even before the tournament, as reported by “Bild,” the Chinese Basketball Federation requested an extra room for their center in the players’ hotel in Berlin, and the Radisson Collection Hotel fulfilled this request.
On the FIBA YouTube channel, the Chinese basketball giant said she inherited her height from her family.
“My parents were also basketball players, my grandparents, my uncle and aunt raised me. I will be forever grateful to them for that,” said the Chinese basketball player.
Off the court, she is simple. Ziyu Zhang said she enjoys crocheting in her free time. Recently, she knitted an elephant. “I worked on it for six months,” said the 19-year-old.
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At the World Championship, she is protected from intense media attention. Usually, representatives of the Chinese national team shield her from journalists wanting to talk to the Chinese player, so she responds to questions with a shy smile and only brief comments.
“Many people only see my height and automatically think I am a strong woman. But I am still young, and sometimes I can be completely childish,” commented Ziyu Zhang on the surrounding hype.
In basketball, she is compared to male giants.
Former Chinese basketball star Yao Ming is 229 cm tall, and the current NBA superstar from France, Victor Wembanyama, is 224 cm tall.
There is also another tall center in the Chinese women’s basketball team.
205 cm tall Xu Han from the WNBA club New York Liberty is also a whole head taller than other players, but even she looks much smaller next to her teammate.
Chinese national team coach Gong Luming believes that Ziyu Zhang can become the greatest player.
He describes her as “one of the talents of the century.”
However, before games, Ziyu Zhang performs a lot of exercises without the ball. This is necessary for the development of the tall player.
“Her play near the basket is simply dominant,” the Chinese coach told FIBA. “But technical skills and mobility still need to be developed, adapting to the evolution of world basketball. Fast play is being consistently improved. So our main priority is to improve her running abilities.”
Ziyu Zhang became famous during the 2024 Asian Cup youth (under 18) girls’ championship, where she absolutely dominated.
Ziyu Zhang was named the most valuable player of the girls’ tournament, scoring impressive key stats: 42.8 efficiency points, 35 points, 12.8 rebounds per game.
The basketball player representing the Shandong Shanghai club in China is not yet so powerful in women’s competitions.
At the World Championship, she plays only 11.7 minutes, although she accomplishes a lot during that time: scores 9.3 points and grabs 4.3 rebounds, and is among the top in the team in efficiency (9.3 points).
She is surrounded by many staff members in the Chinese women’s national team: a physical trainer, physiotherapist, doctor, nutrition specialist.
“She works mostly individually throughout the year,” Pierre Vincent, assistant coach of the Chinese national team, was quoted by L’Equipe. “She trains very little with the team. In Berlin, I work with her, but I don’t know exactly how to train her, I don’t know how much we can push her forward. It’s a sensitive issue because there are no precedents.”
According to the French specialist, the Chinese giant needs to do a lot of tactical and technical work and improve her understanding of the game.
“It’s very clear how young she is,” noted US national team star Caitlin Clark when the Americans crushed the Chinese 94:61 in the group stage. “But you can say she will continue to progress and learn to play and use her greatest strength: her height.”
The 223 cm tall Chinese woman makes even other tall basketball players feel tiny next to her.
“I’m used to being the tallest on the court,” said 198 cm tall French national team center Dominique Malonga before the match against the Chinese team in the championship quarterfinal on Thursday. “It’s a very unusual duel, but also very interesting. There are no unstoppable players. You have to play physically and not let her feel comfortable. If you jump at the right time, she won’t get the ball. You have to play strategically.”
