In the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup held in Turkey, the Chinese U17 men's basketball team lost to the Lithuanian team due to a last-minute mistake and a painful loss, missing the quarterfinals and could only compete in the qualifying battle for 9th-16th place. The first opponent in the qualifying battle is the fourth place Egyptian men's basketball team in Group D, after the Egyptian men's basketball team happened to be ranked one behind the Chinese team in the power list of this tournament, from the point of view of book strength, if the two sides are all the main force to match, the Chinese team is undoubtedly better, but the main center Xun Sinan suffered a back injury in the game with Lithuania, which cast a shadow of uncertainty on this game. After four quarters of fierce battles, although the Chinese men's basketball team fought evenly with the opponent in the first three quarters, it suffered a rout in the final quarter and finally lost the qualifying battle 73-85.
In the first half of the game, it can be clearly felt that Xun Sinan's absence has an impact on the overall tactical development of the Chinese team, and at the same time, Xun Sinan's absence has made the two sides compete for an advantage in altitude, and the opponent's 2.10-meter-tall center Essam can be said to be in the paint area. And our No. 5 Liu Li failed to grab a rebound in the first two quarters...... The team's chief scorer Zhang Boyuan was even more targeted by the Egyptian team, and after there was no inside containment, Zhang Boyuan, a powerful wing, only scored 3 points in the first half, and the whole team could only rely on Li Yuezhou's piecemeal play to maintain the situation. At halftime, the Chinese men's basketball team trailed by 2 points.
Yibian fought again, Li Xiaoyong guided the change, and He Wenwei, who didn't get 1 minute of playing time in the first half, went into battle in order to solve the problem that no one passed the ball to Zhang Boyuan. Such an adjustment can be described as a flash of inspiration, Zhang Boyuan scored two three-pointers in a row to help the Chinese team complete the overtake, and he was faintly about to take off. It's a pity that there are still too few such highlight shots, and the advantage of the Egyptian men's basketball team's interior still helps them stabilize the situation, and the two sides are still evenly matched after the third quarter.
In the final quarter, the Chinese men's basketball team had physical problems, and the opponent took the opportunity to play a 7-0 offensive climax, and the difference between the two sides was stretched to double digits for the first time. At the time of crisis, Li Yuezhou and Fu Wenhao frequently tried to narrow the difference, but the Egyptian team missed the three-point shot in the third quarter and finally found the crosshairs in the fourth quarter, and finally the Chinese team lost to the Egyptian team by 12 points.
In the full-court inventory, the rebounding ratio between the two sides was 28 to 49, and the Chinese team lost a full 21, and the loss of the Egyptian men's basketball team was inaccurate, otherwise the scene of this game may be even more ugly. Li Yuezhou, who played the starting No. 1 position, shot 5 of 15, delivered a game-high 7 assists, and also scored a team-high 19 points, which is really both a father and a mother. Fu Wenhao also performed well, shooting 3 of 7 three-pointers and getting 17 points and 6 rebounds. Zhang Boyuan, the team's scoring champion, played limited in this game, which was related to the opponent's defensive strategy, his connection with his teammates was forcibly cut off, and no one could stably deliver ammunition to him, and finally Zhang Boyuan was 5 of 8 and only scored 13 points. Liu Li, who started in place of Xun Sinan, played 15 minutes, although he scored 8 points, he only grabbed 1 rebound, and was abandoned by Li Xiaoyong's coach at the decisive moment.
Before this battle, the Chinese men's basketball youth team and the Egyptian team have not tasted defeat in 4 encounters, with this loss, the undefeated myth has been broken, and it has also exposed that we are not only gradually moving away from the world's top level, but also narrowing the gap with the once "defeated generals", which is worth paying attention to. Not to mention anything else, the rebounding alone has almost been more than doubled, where does this kind of performance start to win? Next, the Chinese U17 men's basketball team will compete for 12-16 places, hoping that they can cheer up and find the spirit to beat the world's second-ranked French team.