BERLIN — The 2024 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup has already become the breakout stage for a new global talent, as 19-year-old Chinese center Zhang Ziyu has turned heads across the tournament even before posting a career-defining performance. Standing an imposing 7-foot-3, the teenager draws eyes every time she steps onto the court, and she will lead China into a do-or-die qualification clash against Puerto Rico on Wednesday, where a win will punch the team’s ticket to the event’s quarterfinals.
Zhang first grabbed global social media attention during China’s opening pool play matchup against the United States, when a candid clip of her sharing a lighthearted conversation with U.S. star Paige Bueckers went viral across multiple platforms. Bueckers opened up about the exchange in an interview with the Associated Press, framing the moment as nothing but friendly back-and-forth between competitors. “It was just banter, friendly banter. I was trying to figure out how much English she knew, to see how much trash talk she’d understand if I said anything,” Bueckers explained with a smile. “I told her I was going to block her shot, and she just looked at me like she couldn’t believe it. I don’t know if she didn’t catch what I said, or just couldn’t believe I’d say that to her. It was all just fun and games for me.”
Despite only logging eight minutes of play in China’s closing pool play victory over Italy, Zhang put up an efficient eight points and pulled down three rebounds, forcing the entire Italian squad to overhaul their game plan on both ends of the floor while she was on the court. Italian starting center Olbis Andre acknowledged that matching up against Zhang presented an unprecedented challenge that most players never face in regular competition. “For sure it’s weird because it’s something not usual, and it’s also challenging because you have to defend a type of player you don’t go up against every single day,” Andre said. “We played well in some stretches, worse in others, but it’s a learning experience we’re going to take forward.”
Throughout the tournament, Zhang has declined to speak with media, walking through the mixed interview zone with either a smile or a bow, which complies with tournament rules that do not require player media availability. The teenager only picked up basketball when she was 10 or 11 years old, and only committed to training full-time seriously over the past 12 to 18 months. To accelerate her development, the Chinese national team hired April Sykes, a former Rutgers University standout with years of coaching experience, as a skills development coach to work with Zhang.
Sykes spent several months training Zhang earlier this year, and described the young star as an exceptionally quick learner who is eager to improve. Off the court, Sykes says Zhang has a playful personality that surprises many fans who only see her imposing on-court presence. “She’s funny, likes to play video games, she’s a total jokester,” Sykes said from Atlanta, where she has been watching every one of China’s tournament games. “She’s just a kid, though. A lot of people assume she’s 24 or 25, but she’s literally still a teenager.”
Sykes said she felt an enormous sense of pride recently when Zhang hit a left-handed jump shot during a game — a technique the pair worked on extensively during their training sessions together. “That literally made my entire day,” Sykes said. “People don’t understand how much progress she’s made in such a short window of time.”
Zhang’s Chinese national teammate Han Xu, who currently plays in the WNBA for the New York Liberty, echoed that praise, saying Zhang is fully prepared to handle the attention of the global basketball stage. “This World Cup is the perfect moment for her, for the whole world to get to know who she is,” Han said. “I’m so excited to get to play alongside her again.”