TEAM China should make down-to-earth preparations and set modest goals for the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup, said Yao Ming, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and president of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), according to the China Daily.

The FIBA World Cup, which will be held later this year in eight cities across the country, will be a key competition and promotion opportunity for the national team.

“Our aim for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup is qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Of course, a better result is also our goal,” said Yao.

According to the rules, the highest-ranking Asian team in the FIBA World Cup will be given the green light to compete in the upcoming Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo.

Yao also said the impact and legacy of the tournament is a thought-provoking issue for him and the basketball association.

“The national team that competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are well remembered. I hope there will also be a batch of Chinese basketball players that everyone can remember for the next 10 years. It is not only the legacy itself that should be remembered, but also the people who leave it,” said Yao.

He also expressed confidence in the possibility that there will be some really talented young Chinese men who accept the challenge to do better and receive recognition from the world.

As CBA president, Yao and the association have been actively promoting the mini-basketball development plan, which was launched in 2017 and is aimed at cultivating more basketball talents from childhood.

According to Yao, after more than a year’s efforts, more than 100,000 people have registered for the project on the association’s portal.

However, this is only a starting point. In the new year, the association hopes to further promote the project and gain more recognition from families through cooperation with the Ministry of Education and other departments.

“The vast majority of children aged 6 to 12 are in school. We hope the project will be better received in schools so we can build a more solid foundation for future work,” Yao said.(Zhang Yu)