China rolls to winning start in women's basketball Olympic qualification

Chinese women's basketball team boosted their confidence in clinching a ticket to the Rio Olympics after they beat Venezuela 77-59 in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament here on Monday.

A total of 11 Chinese players scored, led by subsititue Sun Mengxin who had 21 points. Shao Ting and Sun Mengran added 14 and 11 respectively.

Waleska Perez finished with a game-high 23 points for Venezuela.

The two sides played three warmup matches in April, with China winning all. China coach Thomas Maher showed his faith in the regular line-up, with Chen Xiaojia starting as the point guard.

But the Chinese players appeared nervous in shooting, forcing Maher to bring on bench players for a change. Sun Mengxin didn't let the Australian down as she hit form quickly after coming off the bench and scored eight points in the first quarter.

The Chinese dominated both ends during the next two periods. Shao scored 10 points early in the second half, before Sun Mengxin extended their lead to 29 points on a three-pointer.

With a large margin in hand, Maher tested different line-ups in the final 12 minutes.

China and Venezuela were drawn in Group D along with world No. 3 Spain, a favorite for the Olympic spot. China will face Spain on Tuesday.

Twelve teams were divided into four groups, with top two of each group advancing into the last eight. Winners of each quarter-final secure four Olympic tickets, while the four losers fight for the fifth one. Endit