China Name 20 for Women’s ACT: Top-Ranked Side Out to End Their Final Heartache
China are the best team in Bhopal on paper. Now they have to prove it on the pitch.
The world’s fourth-ranked side have named their 20-player squad for the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy, with Wei Qixiao as captain and Long Fengyu as head coach. No other team in the six-team field sits higher in the rankings. India are seventh, Japan 11th, and everyone else is further back. That counts for plenty. It counts for nothing once the first whistle goes.
China know that better than anyone. They’ve reached this final three times, in 2011, 2016 and 2024, and lost all three. Last time out they were beaten finalists again. So this squad isn’t just here to take part. They’re here to finish the job that’s slipped away three times already.
The group looks settled. Zhang Mengyao and Fang Haixuan are the two goalkeepers. Zhang Heyang, Jing Keqing, Zhang Wenli, Cai Wenqian, Chen Tong and Chen Yujun are in defence. Deng Qiuchan, Zhang Jing, Feng Qingmiao, Tan Lei, Sun Chang, Li Xinting and Zuo Dandan run through midfield. Zhu Sensen, Han Ruibing, Feng Jiaxin, Zhang Xue and captain Wei Qixiao lead the attack. Twenty players, no passengers, and a coach who has kept faith with a group that knows this tournament inside out.
The opener is a gift they can’t waste
China open the whole tournament against Thailand on Thursday 19 November at 1:00pm IST, 12:30pm PKT. Thailand are ranked 28th, the lowest in the field, and China should win it comfortably. But that’s the point. A big, confident start sets the tone for everything that follows, and China have a brutal run after it.
Malaysia come next on Saturday 21 November at 2:30pm IST, 2:00pm PKT. Then Japan on Sunday 22 November at 2:30pm IST. Then the big one: hosts and defending champions India on Tuesday 24 November at 7:00pm IST, 6:30pm PKT, under lights in front of a full house. South Korea close out the round robin on Wednesday 25 November at 4:45pm IST, 4:15pm PKT.
The semi-finals are on Friday 27 November, the bronze and final on Saturday 28 November. China need a top-four finish first, then they need to win two knockout games. That’s the part that’s beaten them before.
For our money, China are the favourites, and it’s not close on the rankings. But favourites don’t always lift trophies in Bhopal. India have won the last two editions on home soil, Japan have the pedigree, and Korea have three titles of their own. China have the squad to beat all of them. Now they have to show they can do it when it matters most.
