Basketball: The world’s tallest woman makes her World Cup debut and leaves U.S. superstar stunned

The score said the United States had won comfortably, 94-61. The spectacle belonged to someone else. China’s 19-year-old Zhang Ziyu, listed by the tournament at 223 centimeters, became the main attraction in Berlin during her first Women’s Basketball World Cup appearance.

The teenager’s height repeatedly startled the American players. A court attendant checked several times how tall Zhang was from head to toe. Paige Bueckers spoke to her while standing straight and still had to look upward. Aliyah Boston, usually stronger than her opponents, laughed when she first tried to move Zhang backward and found the roles reversed.

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I’ve never experienced anything like it, let alone played against a woman that big. Coach Kara challenged us to persist. I wouldn’t mind if she succeeded a couple of times.

Caitlin Clark, 24, made a powerful debut in a senior major tournament, scoring 14 points and delivering 11 assists. She began on the bench but played 25 minutes, more than any other U.S. player. Even so, Clark said she had never faced anything like Zhang. “I’ve never experienced anything like it, let alone played against a woman that big,” she said, adding that coach Kara Lawson had challenged the team to persist and that it would not be a problem if Zhang succeeded a few times.

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She has the ability to use her body and score. Her touch is soft, and the ball comes off her shot well. If she learns to shoot from farther away, she’ll be incredible.

Boston also saw clear basketball value in Zhang’s physical advantages. “She has the ability to use her body and score. Her touch is soft, and the ball comes off her shot well. If she learns to shoot from farther away, she’ll be incredible,” Boston said.

Lawson said Zhang would “definitely have a place” in next year’s draft. Near the basket, the Chinese player could receive a soft pass and keep the ball above the reach of defenders. The WNBA’s average height is about 185 centimeters, while China’s 211-centimeter player Han Xu already represents the league’s tallest player. Together, Han and Zhang could form an unprecedented frontcourt pairing. Zhang later took time at the end of the bench, as the physical demands of the game began to show.

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There is nothing you can do when she gets the ball close to the basket. It is clear that she will still develop in how she learns to use her great strength.