China’s brightest up-and-coming star Zeng Fanbo will not take part in the Clark window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
The 18-year-old withdrew from the team hours before it left China last Sunday.
He was replaced by 6-foot-10 big man Wang Shaojie of the Beijing Royal Warriors.
“The players’ health is always the top priority. The team will keep in touch with the doctors. The return of Zhou (Qi) and Wang will boost the team’s cohesion and strength,” read the statement of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Returning to the national team is 7-foot-1 big man Zhou Qi, who had optical surgery last Sunday.
Completing China’s team are Zhou Peng, Liu Chuanxing, Shen Zijie, Ren Junfei, Zhang Zhenlin, Zhu Mingzhen, Zhao Jiwei, Hu Mingxuan, Lu Wenbo, Zhao Yanhao, Wu Qian, and Xu Jie.
China has yet to play a single game in the Asia Cup Qualifiers. It will then play four games in five days in Clark.
They take on Japan on the 16th, Chinese-Taipei on the 17th, Japan again on the 19th, before closing their campaign against Chinese-Taipei on the 20th.
