"We have a lot of speed on the bench, such the twin sisters Zhang Wei and Zhang Yu," said Maher, explaining the reason for the victory over the African team. "And they are learning their roles better."

The Chinese women's team, which grabbed a bronze at the Los Angeles Olympics and a silver at Barcelona 1992, placed only ninth in the Athens 2004.

The hosts consider the Beijing Olympics as a chance to deliver along-awaited comeback. Maher has expected the Chinese to have a chance to advance into the semis.

Mali's head coach Jose Ruiz attributed the loss to the lack of physical talent, saying, "the gap in physical situation between the two teams is big."

"We tried as much as possible," the reigning African champion head coach said.

China will vie against the United States, Spain, the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Mali in a round-robin women's preliminary round for a berth in the quarterfinals at the Beijing Games.

Looking for an easy game in the quarterfinals, China must try to finish second after the Americans in the preliminary round Group B.

Maher began to coach the Chinese team in 2005 and was asked to make the team competitive as he had done with Australia and New Zealand before.

Mali qualified for its first ever Olympic Games at the 2007 FIBA Africa Championships in Senegal. They beat the Ivory Coast and the traditional powerhouse Angola in the knockout stages.

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