BEIJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Sharks defeated the Sichuan Blue Whales 111-72 on Wednesday, opening their title defense at the 2025-26 Chinese Basketball Association Club Cup with a comfortable win.
Shanghai controlled the first quarter 36-20 and never allowed Sichuan to recover. Seven Sharks players scored in double figures. Sichuan's Du Zhibo finished with a game-high 23 points, including four 3-pointers, but it wasn't enough to change the outcome.
"Sichuan is in a difficult time with no foreign players in the lineup, so we have nothing to boast about," Shanghai head coach Lu Wei said. "Our new players this season didn't communicate well on the court today. There is still much to improve for us in the tournament."
The Xinjiang Flying Tigers, who lost to Shanghai in last season's inaugural Club Cup final, fell again Wednesday, losing 91-78 to the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. Zhejiang's Brandon Randolph and Wu Qian combined for 44 points in the win.
Against the Jiangsu Dragons, the Liaoning Flying Leopards started strong with a 29-20 lead after the first quarter, but Jiangsu steadily closed the gap and surged ahead in the second half to win 85-78. Jiangsu's Feron Hunt came off the bench to post 28 points and eight rebounds.
Liaoning committed 23 turnovers, a point of frustration for head coach Yang Ming. "This is an alert for us," Yang said. "Jiangsu performed much better than us in terms of intensity and integrity. We need to review the game and focus on our technical level and mindset."
In other games, the Shandong Heroes beat the Tianjin Pioneers 106-90, the Jilin Northeast Tigers topped the Fujian Sturgeons 85-80, the Shanxi Loongs edged the Guangzhou Loong Lions 85-82, the Beijing Royal Fighters slipped past the Nanjing Monkey Kings 98-96, and the Zhejiang Lions outlasted the Qingdao Eagles 103-99.
This season's Club Cup features 23 teams divided into four groups hosted across Wuhan, Changsha, Nanchang and Nanning. Group play runs Dec. 3-8, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage in February 2026. ■
