China bolsters Olympic hopes with crucial win vs Angola in classification phase

China bolstered its chances of making it to the 2024 Paris Olympics after eking out a crucial 83-76 victory against Angola in the classification phase of the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

China now ties Japan with one win across the tournament and is now in a good position to book the lone Asian spot from this global cagefest to the Olympic Games next year.

The Chinese squad also needs to win its last classification round game against no less than Gilas Pilipinas on Saturday and hope other Asian teams, especially Japan, will lose their remaining games.

It was a sluggish start for China, trailing by as much as early in the first half before they unleashed a huge second quarter to end the first two frames with a knotted ballgame, 45-all.

Coached by Serbian mentor Aleksander Djordjevic, China continued to rally in the third and even built a 12-point cushion, 71-59, with big man Hu Jinqui leading the way.

Angola, who defeated Gilas Pilipinas last Sunday, could not recover in the fourth quarter as plenty of heroes rose for China in Hu Mingxuan, Zhou Qi, and naturalized player Li Kaier from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News