BELGRADE, Feb. 8 -- Captain Shao Ting made a brilliant shot plus a free throw at the end of the thrilling game, helping China stun European champion Spain 64-62 in the Olympic women's basketball qualifying tournament here on Saturday.

The win guaranteed an Olympic ticket for the Chinese team to Tokyo 2020 as China had beaten Britain here on Thursday in the opening round of the four-team group which also has South Korea.

China coach Xu Limin told Xinhua that he was surprised, and didn't expect such outcome of the game, but had confidence in the team's past three years of hard work.

Analyzing the game, Xu said that it was a very exciting match. "Compared with the previous game on Thursday, despite the shooting percentage wasn't satisfactory, we performed well in defense and rebounding, with nearly 20 rebounds more than the opponents."

He described his feeling as "lucky" for beating one of the best teams in the world, praising their ability to close the 15-point gap in the final quarter.

"Other teams do not have this kind of ability," he admitted.

Xu noted that the game showed the improvement of his team.

Center Li Yueru, who achieved a double-double (13 points and 15 rebounds), was more than modest about her performance. She told Xinhua that the team managed to defeat Spain by being prepared, persistently fighting, and showing to the opponents their own style of play.

"We didn't expect that we could win, we just hoped to bring our best level into play. Although we made mistakes and had a lot of turnovers, I think we performed very well," she said.

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