Zhang Ru: The star of hope in Henan basketball

Henan Daily client reporter Li Yue Huang Hui

Playing 11 minutes and 59 seconds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 rebound, contributing 7 points, for her first career National Games final performance, Henan girl Zhang Ru, who just passed her 22nd birthday, used 8 words of "flat and stable, no success" to describe. On the evening of September 14, in Xi'an, he successfully won the championship with his teammates of the national team, and Zhang Ru also created a new history: the first national games gold medal in Henan basketball.

Some people may say that Zhang Ru's National Games gold medal is too "easy". After all, her mother team, the Henan women's basketball team, failed to reach the final round of the National Games this time, and as an Olympic joint team, its strength is beyond doubt. At this National Games, the Olympic United Team easily won the championship with 5 games, with a cumulative net win of 260 points in 5 games, and won an average of 52 points per game. With so many strong teammates, Zhang Ru's trip to the National Games can be described as "lying and winning".

However, from the 18 WCBA teams, only 12 women's basketball players can really be selected for the Olympic training team, and only 12 women's basketball players have achieved "lying to win", and Zhang Ru can stand out from the fierce competition, which in itself proves her strength. Last season in the WCBA League, Zhang Ru averaged 15.75 points per game, making him the leading scorer in the Henan women's basketball team. In addition, she averaged 5.56 rebounds, 2.25 assists and 1.75 steals per game, and set a new WCBA record with eight steals in one game, which is already an All-Star performance in the league.

"In today's national team, Zhang Ru is not an indispensable existence, the advantages of age and her own conditions determine, she is one of the hopes that carry the future of the team." Liu Yongguo, deputy director of the Provincial Ball Sports Management Center, a senior Henan basketball man, witnessed Zhang Ru's growth from the national youth team to the national team. According to Liu Yongguo, regarding Zhang Ru's future development, national team coach Xu Limin has communicated with him many times. "In Coach Xu's tactical system, there are high requirements for the team's front. Zhang Ru has height and flexibility, can be qualified for both the No. 3 position and the No. 4 position, and there is a lot of room for improvement in attack and defense. Among the players of the same age group in China, there are only a few people with such conditions as her. Liu Yongguo said that the current core of the national team's front line is the 32-year-old veteran Shao Ting, and from the perspective of preparing for the next Olympic Games, the front position also needs to be considered in the longer term. In fact, in the Olympic Games more just to feel the atmosphere of Zhang Ru, this National Games has been given many opportunities to play, I believe that in the women's basketball Asian Cup competition that began at the end of September, Zhang Ru will get further exercise.

However, regarding the future training of Zhang Ru, Li Jiyang, director of the Provincial Ball Sports Management Center, has some anxiety: because the main sponsor of the Henan women's basketball team has no intention of renewing the contract, the Henan women's basketball team, which cannot meet the professional requirements of the Chinese Basketball Association, is likely to lose the qualification of the WCBA this year. Where Zhang Ru is going to play next has become a problem that Li Jiyang should carefully consider.

"Henan basketball is not short of good seedlings, such as this Chinese women's basketball team, there are 3 people who have received basic training here. The lack of power at the top club is likely to quickly disintegrate the foundation we have laid for decades. Li Jiyang said that although the Henan women's basketball team has been looking for new sponsors in many ways, there has not been much progress at present. In this case, all the provincial ball sports management center can do is to find a suitable new team for Zhang Ru and try not to delay the future growth of the Henan basketball hope star.

Picture two from the right, the Eighth Jersey Zhang Ru is on camera

Editor: Huang Hui