The 19th Asian Games 3×3 Basketball competition started on September 25 at the Deqing Geographic Information Park Basketball Court.

In the evening match, the Chinese team of 3×3 basketball played against Macau, China. The Chinese men's 3×3 basketball team was consisted of Zhao Jiaren, Liu Yuxuan, Lu Pengcheng and Zhou Yanxu.

The 2023 tournament year is an important points year to qualify for the Paris Olympics. China's 3×3 Basketball National Men's Team prepared early by sending many teams to participate in FIBA's various high-points tournaments, as well as sending a number of high-level national players to compete in overseas teams in order to expand the points lineup.

The four players on this occasion had all been competing in points tournaments with different teams before attending the Asian Games, and only got together for training shortly before the Games.

In the day's matches, the Chinese men's team beat Macau, China 21-16. Zhao Jiaren scored 9 points, Liu Yuxuan scored 6 points, Lu Pengcheng scored 4 points and Zhou Yanxu scored 2 points.

In this 3×3 basketball Chinese men's team, Zhejiang fans should be most familiar with Zhao Jiaren, a player who has been playing for Zhejiang East Sunshine Men's Basketball in CBA. He helped Zhejiang Dongyangguang Men's Basketball a lot in last season's CBA playoffs and left a deep impression on everyone. After finishing the last season of CBA league, Zhao Jiaren was selected into the 3×3 basketball China national men's team.

Zhao Jiaren has also previously participated in 3×3 basketball at the Asian level. At the 3×3 Basketball Asia Cup, which took place in July 2022, the Chinese men's team, consisting of him and his younger brother Zhao Jiayi, Liu Zeyi and Lv Junhu, won the bronze medal at the Asia Cup.

The venue is very familiar to Zhao Jiayi, who had previously come to Deqing with the team to play warm-up matches. But this time it was completely different. "The Asian Games has a different meaning and it's a home game. There are a lot of local fans coming to support us and we have to do our best to have the best performance."

At the previous opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Hu Jinqiu, Zhu Junlong and Zhao Jiaren, three teammates from Zhejiang East Sunshine met. Zhao Jiaren said, "After we each went to the national team training, this is the first time we get together again. We live together, including attending the opening ceremony together. We were all very excited because it was the first time we all participated in the Asian Games. It's an honour and a pleasure to have teammates together for the games and for the opening ceremony."

In the first game against Macau, China, despite Zhao Jiaren scored a 9 points, he was not very satisfied. He felt they failed to widen the score gap at the start and even got into a tug-of-war for a while. "The opponents at the Asian Games are not quite the same as the European opponents we played this summer. For example, the Macau, China team we faced today had a faster tempo, with players choosing to shoot more from the outside and some breaks. This style of play can easily disrupt our rhythm. Although they are not very tall, they have a lot of energy when they rush for defensive rebounds, which is a different challenge for us."

For Zhao Jiaren and his team, winning the 3×3 basketball men's championship at Jakarta Asian Games was a benchmark. So this time in Hangzhou Asian Games, the whole team will also take winning the title as a goal. "There is pressure, but we also have to convert the pressure into motivation."

Reporter: Cao Linbo, Bao Yisheng

Editor: Tan Qikuan