ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - Sinan Huan has taken the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 by storm, leading China to one of biggest surprises in the event's history - a 73-70 shocking win over France.
Huan talked about how proud he is of his country, and that he is also playing for his absent twin brother.
Huan collected 12 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks against the French, who have enough star power to be considered one of the top challengers to USA for the title in Istanbul.
"It was a tough game and at first we didn't think we were going to win but we just fought. I am just super proud of my team," Huan said after the win.
China did not play at the 2022 edition of the tournament as they did not play in the U16 Asia Cup 2021. Which was a shame because Huan knows how important it is for China to be present on the global stage.
We want to show and prove - Sinan
"We want to show who we are and prove it on the basketball court," said Huan, who collected 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 blocks in the team's opening loss to Guinea.
The win over France came just eight days after they lost to the same national team 90-48 in a preparation game in Saint-Julien-les-Villas, France.
Huan showed at that mini preparation tournament just what he is capable of with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 12 blocks against a U18 Great Britain team.
The 2.15M (7'1") center, who leads the U17 World Cup with 4.5 blocks per game, is really enjoying his experience in Istanbul.
"I'm super excited to be here and so proud of the China team. I am trying to play as good as I can to show what I can do. It’s pretty fun," said Huan, whose mother is Chengqing Ma, a member of the Chinese national team at the 1996 Olympics and FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 1998.
Huan started playing basketball when they were 6 years old - as did his twin brother, Sifeng.
"It's pretty fun (having a twin brother). I really appreciated everything he did for me. I have so many good memories," Sinan said.
Sifeng Huan, who stands 2.10M (6'11") was not chosen to play on this team but he is playing internationally for China at the moment, competing instead at the International School-Sport Federation World School Basketball Championship 2024 in Macao, China from June 23-July 3.
"I wish he could be here but I think he needs to prove it for himself," Sinan said. "l am playing for him too."
Both brothers are developing their game at high schools in the USA. Sifeng has been attending the Bishop O'Connell in Arlington, Virginia and Sinan is at Windermere Prep in Windermere, Florida - both having just completed their second season abroad.
"My mom and I had a lot of conversations and we thought another country would be a good way to learn more stuff and a different culture and a new style of basketball. It's kind of different but it's pretty cool," Sinan said.
But the twins are quite away apart from one another. There are some 1390 kilometers between Sifeng near Washington DC and Sinan near Orlando.
"It was super hard not being together with him. Sometimes I even dreamt about him. But I got used to it," Sinan admitted.
Despite being very far from his twin brother again, Sinan Huan has Sifeng in mind in Istanbul.
FIBA