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HONG KONG — In China, she’s being called the “female Yao Ming.”
In a video that quickly went viral this week, Zhang Ziyu, a 7-foot-3 basketball player from Shandong province, can be seen towering over her competitors on the court during the FIBA Under-18 Women’s Asia Cup in Shenzhen, China, where she made her international tournament debut.
Zhang, a 17-year-old center, stands head and shoulders above her opponents, demonstrating her superior size and reach as she effortlessly intercepts passes and shots.
She is also a scoring machine, casually reaching up to drop the ball into the net. In China’s opening game against Indonesia on Monday, Zhang scored a perfect 9-for-9 from the field for 19 points in just 13 minutes, adding seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks to help China win 109-50.
She followed up on Tuesday with 36 points against New Zealand, while also pulling down 13 rebounds and rejecting four shots at the defensive end. China won 90-68, and will next play Japan on Wednesday.
On Chinese social media, Zhang’s incredible height has drawn wonder and comparisons to Yao, a former Houston Rockets star.
“How do you want to attack when there is a tower under the rim?” read one comment on YouTube.
“She’s still 17 and tall, but I wonder if she’ll keep growing? It must be hard to find clothes for her,” said a user on X.
Zhang, whose parents both played professional basketball in China, was 5 feet 2 inches tall in the first grade, according to Chinese state media. By sixth grade, she had reached 6 foot 9.
At her current height of 7 foot 3 she is 3 inches shorter than Yao, 43, who was one of the tallest players in the history of the National Basketball Association.
Players in the Women’s National Basketball Association average about 6 feet.
“There are some things we can’t control. I regard it as a gift to me,” Zhang was quoted as saying about her height in an article published Wednesday by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Zhang, who previously gained attention in 2021 when she helped her team win China’s U15 National Basketball League, said she doesn’t think too much about the future and is focused on improving her skills.
“I can easily reach the basket. But basketball is definitely more than that,” she said. “I have to learn a lot.”
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