Chinese basketball fans were in despair on Thursday after the national team crashed out of the World Cup without winning a game, dubbing the dismal performance as “our deepest humiliation.”
China needed to win its final group match on Wednesday night and hope the other results went its way, but was outclassed 107-89 by Puerto Rico. Fans vented on social media, where a hashtag about China’s three successive defeats in the tournament, co-hosted by Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia, racked up tens of millions of views.
“We’ve never failed to win a single game since we started taking part in the World Cup — this is our deepest humiliation for 45 years,” said one comment on the popular Weibo platform.