CHINA is non-committal on whether Zhou Qi will be seeing action at all in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Pampanga.
Although he made the trip with the team to Clark, Zhou was not part of the 12-man line-up of China for Wednesday’s game against Japan at the Angeles University Foundation Gym.
China prevailed over Japan, 66-57.
Head coach Du Feng was mum on the status of Zhou in the qualifiers.
“We will see his situation for the future,” said Du during the postmatch press conference, through an interpreter.
The 25-year-old Zhou is reportedly coming off eye surgery, but decided to still join the squad in the Clark bubble.
The 7-foot-1 Zhou is one of the mainstays of the China national team, and even saw action for the Houston Rockets during the 2017-2018 NBA season.

In 2018, Zhou played for China in the Asian Games in Jakarta after getting a special clearance from the NBA, the same provision given to Jordan Clarkson that allowed him to suit up for the Philippine team in the same competition.
Zhou is currently playing for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association where he was recently part of the All-CBA First Team during the 2020-2021 season.
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