China’s Zhang Ziyu went viral as her 7-foot-3 frame led her nation to a hot start at the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup in Shenzen.
The 17-year-old center debuted for Team Dragon at the tournament this week and earned the moniker ‘Female Yao Ming’ – drawing comparisons to her countryman and former Houston Rockets star.
While towering over the opposition, Zhang’s highlight reel gained traction on social media as she effortlessly reached for boards and racked up points. Basketball page NextGen Hoops referred to the teen sensation as ‘a cheat code’ on the hardwood.
‘How do you want to attack when there is a tower under the rim?’ read one comment on YouTube.
‘She’s still 17 and tall, but I wonder if she’ll keep growing?’ another user wrote on X. ‘It must be hard to find clothes for her.’
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Zhang barely broke a sweat, going 9-for-9 in China’s 109-50 blowout over Indonesia in their opening game. She scored an impressive 19 points in 13 minutes, with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and three blocks.
Her dominance continued when she put up 36 points and 13 boards with four swats in a 90-68 win over New Zealand on Tuesday.
Zhang hails from the Shangdong province and was born into hoops, as both her parents played professional basketball in China.
According to a Chinese social media post, Zhang was 5 feet 2 inches tall in the first grade. By the sixth grade, she reached an incredible 6 foot 9 stature.
Zhang may soon be a highly-sought prospect in the WNBA, where players’ average height is 6 feet. The teenager has a significant height advantage over her fellow center, Han Xu (6-foot-11), who previously played for the New York Liberty.
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Zhang previously gained attention in 2021 during China’s U15 National Basketball League victory.
While she is only three inches shorter than Yao, Zhang insists that having the height advantage was not the only factor in her dominance. In an interview with FIBA, she admitted that she is still learning techniques to parlay with her natural gifts.
‘There are some things we can’t control. I regard it as a gift to me,’ Zhang said.
‘I can easily reach the basket. But basketball is definitely more than that,’ she added. ‘I have to learn a lot.’
Zhang clocked in her best performance in the tournament on Wednesday with 44 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists in an 87-81 win over Japan.