Hosts China flop at Basketball WC

BEIJING: Yao Ming looked on helplessly and fans were left in tears as hosts China failed to progress to the second round of the Basketball World Cup with a 72-59 defeat to Venezuela on Wednesday.

In a do-or-die battle to reach the next stage, it was the South Americans who appeared to relish silencing a vocal, packed crowd at Wukesong Arena in Beijing.Basketball, along with football, is the most popular sport in China. But that has failed to result in a top-class team and there is no current successor to trailblazer Yao.

The former Houston Rockets All-Star, now 38, took over as head of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2017 and set about reforming an entrenched state development system that he says badly needs an overhaul. He might want to ramp up his development plan after this demoralising showing on home soil, with the Venezuela defeat giving China a record of one victory — over the Ivory Coast — against two losses.

Coach Li Nan said China never fully recovered from Monday’s crushing 79-76 overtime defeat to Poland.Even neutrals had expected the hosts to successfully negotiate a weak Group A, where Venezuela joined Poland in the last 16, while a public of 1.4 billion was as expectant as ever.