China vs Canada Women's Basketball Game Preview for 2016 Rio Olympics: Start Time, Lineup and TV Schedule
Team Canada Women's basketball squad is all set for a square off against Team China in the opener of 2016 Rio Olympics on Sunday, August 7 at 1:15 p.m. Eastern time.
The rivalry between the two teams will rekindle in Rio after Canada beat China during the 2016 Edmonton Grads International Classic where Canada racked almost 20 to finish 82-63.
The highly-anticipated match can be caught in televised coverage by NBC, NBC Universo and TeleMundo live during the said schedule.
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To recall, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe and Tamara Tatham piled up 12 points each during the said leg of exhibition games that led up to the Rio Olympics. China had difficulty finding the momentum then after seven more Canadians contributed at least 7 points each.
Coming in to the Rio Games, Canada's lineup for women's basketball will include starters Miah-Marie Langlois, team captain Kim Gaucher, Raincock-Ekunwe, Tatham and Miranda Ayim, while second set includes Natalie Achonwa, Kia Nurse, Ruth Hamblin and Jamie Weisner.
China will deploy team captain Lu Wen, Huang Sijing, Wu Di, Sun Mengran and Zhao Zifang as possible starters. On the bench support will include Chen Xiaojia, Li Shanshan, Shao Ting, Gao Song, Huang Hongpin and Chen Nan. Ting racked a game-high 13 points during the earlier exhibition match.
Meanwhile, as Canada vocally states that their aim for Rio is to get to the finals and battle for gold, team captain Gaucher expressed confidence over the current squad.
"That's what this team is," said captain Kim Gaucher. "We are so deep, it doesn't matter who it is, it's someone's hot we can get them the ball. We have 12 people that are capable on other teams to put up 20 a night if they had to, so it's really fun to play like that. We're very unselfish and it's really cool."
Considering the current world standings, Rio Olympics is going to be a tough challenge for both China and Canada since both are into the lower tier of the top ten. China is ranked number 8th in FIBA while Canada is trailing at number 9th.
The best scenario will possibly come to fruition if team Canada can improve their game as shown during last summer's Pan American Games in Toronto where they grabbed the gold. Then a couple of weeks, the squad in went into another action-packed game against China, paving the road to Rio with a victory at the FIBA Americas tournament in Edmonton.
