Seventeen-year-old Chen Jianghua became the youngest basketball player to represent China in a major championship event when he was named alongside Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi in the squad yesterday.

The teenage point guard came into the spotlight after impressing in China's 119-73 defeat to the United States in Guangzhou last week, his national team debut, and nailed in 10 points and two rebounds in a game against Germany last Friday.

His national team big-game appearance beats a record held by Wang, who first played for China at 19 at the Barcelona Olympics in 1996.

Head coach Jonas Kazlauskas was confident Chen would impress in Japan. "For sure he is young, but there is no reason that I don't take him to Japan," said "He played very good at two of three warm-up games we had, how can I leave him out of the door?"

Chen, however, had just one month in the national team after being selected on July 5. He previously played in the second team of national champions Guangdong Tigers, and never played in any Chinese Super League games. But his bravery and penetrating attacking moves show in the past two games could be the vital weapon China needs.

Chen averaged 17.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and two assists for the U-18 China team at the 2005 USA Youth Development Festival. In June 2006, he contributed a team-high 32 points for China's youth team in a friendly with the Sydney Kings from Australia.

"There is no pressure on me," said Chen. "It's just a start. I don't have any high expectation on myself at the Worlds, it's a great chance to learn something.

"I want to improve my play step by step and hopefully I can contribute to the team in Japan."

Houston Rockets all-star Yao and former NBA player Wang are included despite both recently returning from injury.

With only little contributions from the two scorers, China have won just three of their last 12 warm-up matches, lowering expectations for the Worlds.

"Now we are not aiming at a top eight finish. We will fight for the first 16 and see if we can move further," said team manager Hu Jiashi. "With Yao in the team, I think we are able to make an impact against those hoop powerhouses."

China's best performance in the Worlds is the eighth in 1994. The team failed to make the World Championships final in 1998 and settled for a 17th finish in 2002.

China beat Austratria 63-61 in their last warm-up match yesterday before leaving for Japan on August 17.

Squad:

Guards: 4-Chen Jianghua (Guangdong), 5-Liu Wei (Shanghai), 6-Zhang Qingpeng (Liaoning), 9-Sun Yue (Beijing).

Small forwards: 7-Wang Shipeng (Guangdong), 8-Zhu Fangyu (Guangdong)

Centers: 10-Zhang Songtao (Beijing), 12-Mo Ke (Bayi), 13-Yao Ming (Houston Rockets)

Power forwards: 11-Yi Jianlian (Guangdong), 14-Wang Zhizhi (Bayi), 15-Du Feng (Guangdong)

Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas

(China Daily August 16, 2006)