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China’s 7-Foot-3 Women’s Basketball Phenom Wreaks Havoc On Team USA With Ridiculous Height Difference

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Zhang Ziyu China Women's Basketball 7-foot-3 18-year-old height phenom usa fiba world cup
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Zhang Ziyu did not lead China to victory over the United States at the FIBA World Cup. However, the 7-foot-3 women’s basketball phenom held her own with some of the top players in the WNBA at only 19 years old.

The height difference is ridiculous!

This was the first time Zhang has played against a full team of WNBA players. Although she did not win, she held her own!

Who is Zhang Ziyu?

Zhang Ziyu first became a viral sensation at the age of 14 while playing against girls who were not even half her height. The world took notice.

As a native of Jinan, Shadon, Zhang played for Team China at the U18 Asia Cup in 2024 as a 17-year-old. Opposing teams tried to double-team — even triple-team — her at every opportunity. It did not matter. She was playing against girls who were more than two feet shorter than she is.

China ultimately finished second at the U18 Asia Cup but Zhang was named as the Most Valuable Player with an astonishing average of 35 points and 12.8 rebounds per game. There has never been a greater mismatch.

It was more of the same back in January when Zhang made her professional debut for the Shandong Six Stars of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association earlier this year. The 18-year-old went head-to-head with two former top-10 picks in the WNBA Draft and finished with 15 points and six rebounds in 13 minutes.

However, Zhang has yet to play significant minutes for the Six Stars and had not played against active WNBA players until this week. The FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup got underway in Berlin on Friday.

Zhang and China scrimmaged against France on Wednesday. The height difference was staggering.

Zhang is 7-foot-3. The tallest player on France is 6-foot-5.

Team USA struggled to guard China’s 7-foot-3 women’s basketball phenom.

The United States defeated China by a final score of 94-61 on Friday morning. The Americans shot 44.7% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc. They finished with 47 total rebounds, 26 assists, six blocks and nine steals.

Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Rhyne Howard finished as the leading scorers with 14 points. Angel Reese finished with a team-high nine rebounds.

On the other side of the court, Zhang Ziyu had a significant height advantage.

Her warmup includes a stretch on the backboard.

She towers over Zhang.

Reese worked hard to keep her in check.

As did Boston.

The height difference proved to be a challenge but Boston did get one back on Zhang during the second half!

Zhang could not carry the Chinese to victory over the tournament favorites but she gave the United States a challenge and finished as the leading scorer with 13 points (nine points on free throws), six rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes off of the bench. It will be fun to see whether the 18-year-old can keep getting better and one day make the transition to the WNBA.