Former Olympic foes meet on court
Surprise reunion prompts friendly rematch
Deb Huband was making small talk — well, as much as one can when speaking through an interpreter — when the UBC women’s basketball coach thought her conversation counterpart looked like she might have been an athlete.
Xuedi Cong, the head coach of the Chinese women’s U-18 national basketball team, gave a translator-affirmed “yes” to the question and, moments later, 34 years of history fell away.
They had met before. On the court. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I said that I had played for Canada and she just jumped to the chase and asked ‘Which Olympics?’ And I said ‘84, and she said ‘Me, too!’ I pointed to myself and said ‘Point guard?’ — and at this point, we’re not using the interpreter anymore, we’re just using body language and single words — and she says ‘point guard’ and nods.
“Once we realized we both played in those Games, and we were both the same position, we knew we probably checked each other.”
A member of the Chinese team Googled the game, and when they found not only pictures of the game, but Huband guarding Xuedi, it was pandemonium in the War Memorial Gym.
“Everybody went a little bit crazy. It was pretty unreal ... that we discovered it in a two-minute chat on the sideline,” said Huband. “And then we thought we’d re-enact that photo, which turned into a two-possession game — her possession, my possession — and it ended 0-0.
“There was some excitement in the gym. And then it deflated pretty quickly once they saw our game was nothing like it was back in the '80s,” she added, laughing.
The Chinese team is preparing for the FIBA Asia U-18 Championship, which will be held in Bangalore, India, at the end of October, and have been in Vancouver scrimmaging against other teams as part of their tune-up. The Thunderbirds and Team China hit the War Memorial court Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. exhibition game. Tickets are available at the door.
The passage of time has faded the memories, but not the feeling Huband has from her earlier meetings with Xuedi. The Canadians won 66-61 in the first game, with Xuedi notching 10 points and five assists, while Huband had four in seven minutes of action.
The stakes were higher in their next meeting — the bronze-medal game — and Huband scored 12 points in 34 minutes of action in a 63-57 loss.
“They were a formidable team with tremendous size. They had a 6-7 and a 6-9 post, and we had a 6-4 scrawny girl, and our other post topped out at about 6-2,” Huband said. “They had changed their strategy (for the rematch), they kept the big girls on the bench for most of the game and went for a real dynamic, quick transition game, and got the better of us.
“I think I scored more than I usually did in that game, but that wasn’t a good sign. It meant it was a bit of a flat game for our offence. My role was not to be a big scorer, (it was) to roll up your sleeves and play some D.
“(It’s a) very poignant memory. We ended up with the ‘lead’ medal, the fourthplace medal,” she added. “Our coach even bought us these gold pendants with the Olympic symbol on them as our token medals, but it still didn’t ease the pain.
“Olympians talk about it all the time, just how bitter the taste is when you lose that bronze-medal game, when you go from being a medallist to a non-medallist.
“She carries a very broad smile, but she hasn’t rubbed it in,” added Huband.
“We had good fun. I look forward to seeing her again because I have a few more questions for her. I’m curious if she played in world championships because during that stretch we got bronze at two worlds.
“I don’t think they medalled in those, so maybe I’ll get her back,” added Huband, chuckling.