A young Chinese basketball player, 2.10 m tall, goes viral

China's Zhang Ziyu during a U18 Women's Asian Cup match against New Zealand in Shenzhen on June 25, 2024. Credit – Fred Lee—Getty Images

AAs China's women's basketball team takes the court this week for the Under-18 Asian Cup, held at home in Shenzhen, it's impossible to miss a powerful weapon in its arsenal : Zhang Ziyu, 17, who is 7 feet tall. -3 rounds on everyone on the field.

Taller than any WNBA player, she has been called a “cheat code” and “undefendable” by social media users and compared to retired Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming at 7-foot-6, and Victor Wembanyama, the top pick in last year's NBA draft, at 7-foot-4 from France.

It's not hard to see why Zhang is attracting attention: In her international tournament debut, she's already posting impressive numbers, shooting 9-of-9 for 19 points in 13 minutes as a substitute as China cruised to a 109-50 win over Indonesia on Monday and helped China beat New Zealand 90-68 on Tuesday.

She has scored a total of 55 points in her two games so far this week, and has barely needed to jump.

Women's basketball is enjoying a global resurgence, helped in large part by Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever guard and WNBA sensation fresh off a record-breaking college career. Now Zhang is having her own moment in the spotlight.

Born to professional basketball players, Zhang was 5-foot-2 as a first-grader and 6-foot-9 by sixth grade, according to the state agency. World Time.

Zhang's performances in China's youth leagues saw her gradually gain national popularity as the sport's rising star – particularly in 2021, when images of the literally exceptional young woman, then aged 14 years, in China's National U15 Basketball League went viral – but it soared. gained international fame this week as video montages of her at the Asian Cup rack up millions of views and numerous reactions on social media.

“But what do I see?” wrote Spanish sports journalist Luis Vallejo on X in response to a video of Zhang. “No, it’s not an artificial intelligence,” wrote another user. Others are already anticipating her potential WNBA career when she turns 20 in a few years.

Viewers at home also continue to enjoy Zhang's dominance on the court. On Chinese microblogging site Weibo, the topic “Zhang Ziyu is too strong” has been viewed more than eight million times. “This is harassment. There is no way to play the game now,” one post read.

For his part, Zhang remains humble about his rise. “I consider it a gift to me,” she said of her height, in comments published by the International Basketball Federation. “I can reach the basket easily. But basketball is much more than that. I have to learn a lot.

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