China lost to the US 119-72 in their opening game at the 2006 FIBA Women's Basketball World Championship in Brazil yesterday.

Altogether, 16 powerhouses around the world are competing in the tournament running from September 12 to 23.

China, ranked six at the 2002 World Championship that they hosted, set themselves a goal of entering the top eight despite being drawn into the "Group of Death" with the US, Russia and Nigeria.

Point guard Miao Lijie and center Chen Nan each nailed 17 points for China with Chen on the verge of a double-double also grabbing nine rebounds. Chen Xiaoli was the only other Chinese to tally double figures, scoring 10 points during the loss.

For the US, Sue Bird contributed a game-high of 20 points while Tina Thompson and Diana Taurasi added 17 points apiece for the defending champions. The US dominated across the court, leading in field goal percentage by 59 percent to China's 36 percent, and in assists by 18 to 5.

Miao Lijie's 3-pointer and Chen Nan's fast break lay-up gave China a 5-4 lead early in the first period. This would be their only lead as Candace Parker hit two free throws to complete a 10-0 run for the Americans, extending their cushion to 29-13 after the first quarter.

Chen Nan scored a two-pointer and hit the ensuing FT two minutes into the second period to help China cut the difference to 12 at 35-23. However, the US' WNBA stars rallied and accelerated the game's pace igniting a 13-0 spurt, leading 62-34 into the locker room.

The second half saw a wider gap between the two teams as China trailed 96-56 after 36 minutes and the US reached a 50-point cushion midway through the last quarter.

China's small forward Sui Feifei, who played for the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA last year, didn't score, her play impaired by her favoring of her recently injured ankle.
 
In the last decade, the Americans have performed a clean-sweep of World and Olympic titles, and Chinese head coach Tom Maher said he was satisfied with the Chinese girls' performance as they had showed their spirit.

"Actually we are not a strong team at the moment because the girls are so young and lack big events experience," said the Australian, adding that China's goal is to win a medal at the 2008 Olympics. On the current 12-member roster of the national squad, five players are rookies to the worlds: Song Liwei, Liu Dan, Bian Lan, Jia Guang as well as Zhang Wei.

Tomorrow, China will take on Russia, runners-up of the 2002 championships. The Russian beat Nigeria 84-50 in their first game yesterday. China drew 1-1 against Russia in a two-game series at this summer's four-nation tour but these results were based on the fact that five Russian starters, all WNBA players, didn't show up.

According to the competition rules, the top three from each group will qualify for the next round. Therefore "the clash between Nigeria and us would be a fight for living," Chen Nan commented.

China's best performance at the FIBA women's basketball was No. 2 in 1994.

Also on Tuesday, Canada outplayed Senegal 65-64, Brazil upset Argentina 71-69, and Spain overpowered South Korea 87-57.

(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, September 13, 2006)