Video of 2.2-metre-tall Chinese teen dominating basketball tournament goes viral

China have unleashed their 7ft 3in (2.2 metres) basketball cheat code on the international stage, with Zhang Ziyu dominating proceedings at the Fiba U18 Women’s Asia Cup in Shenzhen, scoring 55 points in just two games.

The 17-year-old came off the bench to make her international tournament debut on Monday and scored 19 points in just 13 minutes as her side beat Indonesia 109-50.

On Tuesday, Fiba released a video of her performance which subsequently went viral on social media, and sparked hundreds of comments from fans across the world.

“She’s going to make thousands of dollars in the WNBA,” one Twitter user wrote.

Watching Zhang towering over her opponents, one Instagram user suggested an interesting defensive solution.

“OK, it’s not orthodox but at what point do you have one player put another one on their shoulders?” they wrote.

The highlight reel shows Zhang planting herself under the hoop, plucking the ball from the air with barely a hop and nonchalantly placing it in, also racking up seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks.

In her second game, the centre scored 36 points, along with 13 rebounds and four blocks, as China pushed aside New Zealand 90-68 on Tuesday to maintain a 100 per cent win record in the tournament.

China play Japan on Wednesday and Zhang is likely to star once again.

Zhang was born into a basketball family on May 1, 2007. Both her mother and father played professionally in China.

Her dad is 2.13 metres tall while her mum, named Yu Ying, a former member of China’s national women’s basketball team, stands at 1.98 metres.

By the time Zhang was in first grade, she was standing at 5ft 2in. She then shot up to 6ft 9in by sixth grade, according to Chinese state media.

In 2021, she was playing in China’s U15 National Basketball League and went viral on Chinese social media after she scored a total of 42 points to help her team win the title.

According to Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) rules, athletes must be at least 22 years old before they are eligible for the draft, meaning Zhang is someway off the big leagues yet.