Zhou Qi will step out onto the floor when China takes on Japan in their penultimate game in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Saturday at 2:30PM.
The 7-foot-1 big man just had laser eye surgery last Sunday and only made the trip to the country on Monday.
China head coach Du Feng has been closely monitoring Zhou’s recovery for the past week.
Zhou was the 46th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. He played for the Houston Rockets and the Rio Grande Vipers from 2017-18.
Since then, the 25-year-old big man has been playing with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.
Completing Team Dragon are Zhou Peng, Zhou Qi, Ren Junfei, Hu Mingxuan, Zhao Jiwei, Zhang Zhenlin, Wu Qian, Lu Wenbo, Zhao Yanhao, Shen Zijie, Xu Jie, and Liu Chuanxing.
Japan, on the other hand, will plug 6-foot-9 Ryan Rossiter in its naturalized position.
The Akatsuki Five will also have Makoto Hiejima, Kosuke Takeuchi, Kosuke Kanamaru, Avi Schafer, Naoto Tsuji, Daiki Tanaka, Yuki Togashi, Shuto Ando, Hugh Watanabe, and Tenketsu Harimoto.
China is 2-0 in the Qualifiers. It needs just one more win to qualify for the Asia Cup proper this August in Jakarta.
