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Chinese NBA Rockets center Yao Ming said Friday that he was confident of advancing to the second round from Group D at the Men's World Basketball Championships in Sapporo, Japan.

Nearly 50 players from the National Basketball Association, about one of every six participants, including China's Yao Ming seen here 18 August 2006, will take the court for their homelands when the FIBA World Championships begin Saturday.

"China will enter the last-16, I promise," said Yao, who was sidelined for two months before the Championships for foot surgery.

China is bracketed with the United States, Italy, Slovenia, Puerto Rico and Senegal with the top four teams to advance.

To beat the US is not the ambition for former Miami Heat forward Wang Zhizhi, the first Asian player entering NBA by joining the Dallas Mavericks in 2001.

"I don't think (we have) the chance to beat the US and we'll put more focus on the other opponents of the group," Wang said.

China is hindered by injuries during the warm-ups as both Yao and Wang, who injured his knee three weeks ago, are not on the peak of their form.

"I have not fully recovered from the injury. I'm trying to find my form during the Stankovic Cup, and I feel better now here than in Nanjing," Yao added.

Yao played three matches during last-week's Sankovic Cup in Jiangsu where China beat Australia and lost to Germany and Brazil, finishing fifth.

Starting point guard Liu Wei returned to the line-up on August 15 after missing two games for ankle strains.

Head coach Jonas Kaslaukas tried out several starting line-ups in China's 20 warm-up matches for the world championships.

"I have no final decision (on starters) because of the constant injuries. Yao and Wang will be on the court undoubtedly, but I'm not sure how long they can play," Kaslauskas said.

China will kick off the world championships with Saturday's match against Italy.

"Actually I know nothing about Italy. We watched them during the Athens Olympics two years ago. They had a bunch of shooters, including big guys. We have to shift our rotation to defend their long-range shots," Yao said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2006)