Basketball-crazed China has Tokyo Olympics in sight

Photo from Fiba.com

GUANGZHOU, China—The Chinese really know their basketball, and love their national cage team unconditionally.

“Are you a journalist?” the petite immigration officer at Guangzhou International airport asked the Inquirer Sunday morning. “You are Filipino journalist. What are you going to do in China?”

Telling her that this reporter was going to cover the Fiba World Cup, her eyes lit up somewhat, and then gave out a little smile. “Philippines lose to Italy. Very bad,” she added.

“China won, very important for Olympics in (Tokyo) Japan next year,” she said without the slightest hint of insulting this Filipino scribe, but instead, her statement was full of genuine glee as she raised both hands slightly as if wanting to clap for everyone else in the area to hear.

Of course, that lady was talking of the Tokyo Games next year, where the top Asian team here gets automatic inclusion into the main draw while leaving everyone else in the region to go through another hectic qualifying process to get there.

The Chinese posted a 70-55 decision of Ivory Coast on Saturday at the start of the World Cup, playing in their capital city of Beijing. They have been tipped to be the only Asian country to advance to the second round.

There were eight games played on Saturday and only the Chinese, out of four Asian countries that saw action that day, managed to pull out a win.

Talk about getting a good head start.

Argentina bamboozled South Korea, 95-69; and many-time Asian champion Iran dropped a nail-biting 83-81 decision to Renaldo Balkman and Puerto Rico. And of course, there was that 108-62 drubbing that the Filipinos absorbed at the hands of Italy.

Left in Group A play for the Chinese are Poland and Venezuela, with the home team expected to handle the Venezuelans better than the Polish and make it to the next round.

The Koreans need to sweep their remaining two games in Group B against Russia and Nigeria, while Iran will have to go through Spain and Tunisia to advance. The Philippines, well, we know what it would take, and the talented Nikola Jokic is standing in the way.

Japan, which debuts at press time, can lose all the games it wants here and still play in Tokyo, being the host, while Jordan is bracketed with the Dominican Republic, France and Germany in Group F and also doesn’t stand much of a chance.

For that immigration officer, China basketball is not about posting a mammoth upset and winning this edition of the World Cup. It’s also about the future.

And maybe, just maybe, her Nationals may have already painted a rosy picture of that after surviving Ivory Coast.