SHANGHAI, 12 November 2003 — Chinese national basketball coach Jiang Xingquan yesterday lamented the Asian champions’ chances at next year’s Olympic Games in Athens after being drawn in the tournament’s toughest pool.

China was bounced into Group A with reigning world champions Serbia and Montenegro, runners-up Argentina and New Zealand, fourth at the world championships.

Italy and Spain, the European championships’ second and third place finishers, round out the group, drawn in Madrid Saturday. “The draw is just no good,” Jiang was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency. “Every team is strong.”

Italy is the only team China have beaten recently, downing them 85-76 at the Sydney Olympics. “We know Italy better than any other group rivals. I think we are more likely to beat them again in Athens,” said Jiang, who knows that China will need at least two wins in Athens to qualify for the quarterfinals. They will first meet Spain in Greece, a team that hammered them by more than 20 points in Sydney.

“Our group opener will be extremely hard,” Jiang said. “We must play exceptionally well to get a win.”

NBA star Yao Ming rued China’s missed chance for a matchup against reigning Olympic champions the United States, who are in Group B, along with European champions Lithuania. “I prefer playing US Dream Team Six in the Olympics. We don’t have many chances to play against so many stars,” the Houston Rockets center told the Shanghai Morning Post.

Yao said it would be impossible for China to beat Serbia and Montenegro, but held out hope for victories against New Zealand and Italy. “There are nine months before the Olympics. We have enough time to prepare for it,” Yao said.

Kenya Selectors in Dilemma Over Olympic Marathon Team

In Nairobi, Athletics Kenya (AK) selectors look set to stumble yet again in their quest to name a strong marathon squad for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Three years ago, Tegla Loroupe was dropped from the Sydney Olympics team after she defied AK orders to return home for the mandatory pre-Olympic residential training.

But with Kenyan runners dominating top marathon races in the world this year, and the country desperate to end its search for Olympic gold in the event, the selectors are determined to pick the strongest ever squad. Already world record holder Paul Tergat, the 2003 New York Marathon winner Margaret Okayo and runner-up Catherine Ndereba, have been given automatic places in the Athens-bound squad.

However, a plea by Martin Lel, who upset defending champion Rodgers Rop to win this year’s New York Marathon, to be included in the team, has been turned down by the selectors. “Lel, like any other marathon runner, has to prove he’s capable of making the team. We cannot just rely on his victory in New York as a yardstick,” retorted AK chief Isaiah Kiplagat.

Previously, the AK had based their selection both the World and Olympic marathons and also on the New York and Boston marathons.