Zheng Haixia (; born March 7, 1967) is a Chinese retired professional women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

China women's national basketball team The China women's national basketball team represents the People's Republic of China in international women's basketball tournaments. The national team is governed by the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Tournament record Olympic Games *19 ...

and the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

International career

In 1983, Haixia made her debut at the Basketball World Championship and finished 3rd. The following year, she and her teammates finished 1st in the Asian Junior Basketball Championship and 3rd in the 23rd Olympic Games. In 1986, she led the Chinese team to fifth in the 10th World Championship, 1st in the Asian Games, and 2nd in the World Championship. In 1992, she inspired her teammates to win the silver in the

Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. The following year, she won the

East Asian Games The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic ...

, the World University Games and National Games. In 1994, she claimed the titles in the Asian Championship and ranked 2nd in the World Championship, being named MVP of the event by averaging 26.4 points, 13.1 rebounds and shooting 83.5% from the field. One year later, she and her teammates retained their title in the 16th Asian Championship. In 1996, she made her fourth Olympic appearance in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, averaging 18.1 points, 9 rebounds. One year later, she won the 8th National Games with the PLA team.

WNBA career

In 1997 she retired from the Chinese national team and went to play with the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

in the WNBA in the United States. At the end of 1998, she returned to China and began to coach the PLA women's team. She is currently a coach in China. In 1997 Haixia received the

Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award The Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season, to the player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court—ethical behavior, fair ...

becoming the first Asian woman as well as international player to win any award in the WNBA. She led the WNBA in field goal percentage at .618.

Career statistics

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1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, 28 , , 21 , , 19.9 , , .618 , , — , , .661 , , 4.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.7 , , 1.6 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

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, 6 , , 2 , , 16.3 , , .625 , , — , , .714 , , 4.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 1.0 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 2 years, 1 team , 34 , , 23 , , 19.3 , , .619 , , — , , .667 , , 4.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 1.5 , , 8.9

Personal life

She started to practice basketball at the age of 12 and was selected by the Wuhan Army club team one year later. In 1983, she entered the national team. She married Xu Qinghua in Beijing on June 19, 2010.

References

External links

Haixia Zheng in WNBA history

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zheng, Haixia 1967 births Living people Asian Games bronze medalists for China Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games medalists in basketball Asian Games silver medalists for China Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1986 Asian Games Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1990 Asian Games Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1994 Asian Games Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Henan Centers (basketball) Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States Chinese women's basketball players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Los Angeles Sparks draft picks Los Angeles Sparks players Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Olympic basketball players of China Olympic bronze medalists for China Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for China People from Shangqiu