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Houston Rockets center Yao Ming said
Thursday he has taken 80 percent recovery from a foot surgery and would
join the Chinese national team on Friday, June 27, 2008.(Xinhua
Photo)
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BEIJING, July 16 -- China's Yao Ming is likely to
play his first competitive game since having surgery on his foot in March at
this week's Stankovic Cup pre-Beijing Olympic basketball tournament, local media
reported on Tuesday.
The 2.28m Houston Rockets center, whose NBA season
was ended by a stress fracture, returned to China to join the national squad for
training last month but played no part in two warm-up games against Australia in
Jiangsu.
"Yao will definitely go to the Stankovic Cup in
Hangzhou, and the chance of him playing is very high," Hu Jiashi, vice-chief of
the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), told Oriental Sports Daily.
Yao said last month it was 50-50 whether he would
play in the four-nation tournament.
China will play Serbia on Thursday, Angola on
Saturday and Russia on Sunday in the round-robin tournament.
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Houston Rockets' Yao Ming stands during
the NBA All-Star basketball game in New Orleans, Louisiana Feb. 17,
2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Angola, one of China's opening-round group opponents
at next month's Olympics, is considered to be the most important preparatory
game for the host.
Despite having rescheduled the Angola game so it will
take place at a time in the afternoon similar to the scheduled Olympic time for
the two countries' clash, Hu would not confirm whether it would mark the
beginning of Yao's comeback.
"We can only say it depends on the game situation,"
said Hu.
The 27-year-old Yao averaged 22 points and nearly 11
rebounds for the Rockets this season before being sidelined with the stress
fracture.
China opens its Olympic campaign against the United
States, which includes NBA all-stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, at the
Wukesong basketball arena on Aug 10, two days after the opening ceremony.
(Source: China Daily/Agencies)
