The French national basketball team, though flanked by seven NBA stars, defeated Japan only through a thrilling overtime after a controversial call. And looking back a month ago, the Chinese men's basketball team traveled to the U.S. for a warm-up tour. Just as 23-year-old Isao Kawamura was making his mark in the international arena, 28-year-old Gao Shi Yan was still firmly in the starting lineup.
However, the Chinese men's basketball team has not won any of its seven games against the NBA Summer League. What is particularly noteworthy is that the gap between the Chinese men's basketball team and the Japanese men's basketball team, which has been out of the Olympics for two consecutive years, seems to be widening gradually. Facing the crossroads ahead, should the Chinese men's basketball team turn left or right?
What is even more heartbreaking for fans is the gap between the Chinese men's soccer team and Japan. Once upon a time, the Japanese men's soccer team as the World Cup eight regulars, beat Spain, Germany and other traditional powerhouses. On the contrary, the Chinese team, but in the match with Thailand and Singapore in a tie, and ultimately rely on the Singaporean goalkeeper in the World Asia Preliminary heroics, a thrilling advance to the Asian 18.
In volleyball, Japanese men's volleyball team has managed to get a ticket to the Paris Olympics, ranking second in the world. The Chinese men's volleyball team, on the other hand, is ranked 31st, 29 countries away from Japan.
The competition between China and Japan in the three major ball games is not only a gap in performance, but also an all-round competition between the two countries in sports management, youth training system, league level and other aspects. I hope that China can face up to the current problems and comprehensively improve the overall strength of the three major sports programs, so as to lay a solid foundation for future international events.
At the same time, we expect more passionate comments like those of General Fan Zhiyi.
