Chinese basketball player Wang Zhizhi was called up by the national team yesterday, ending his four-year hiatus.

Wang's inclusion for the Beijing Olympics was also guaranteed after being listed in a 30-member Olympic roster, which was released on the same day.

The 2.16-metre centre, who returned home last month from the United States after his expulsion from the national team in 2002, said he was ready for his long-awaited reappearance for the national team.

"I've done a lot of soul-searching after coming back and now I am so eager to contribute to my country," he said. "It's an honour to have a chance at the home Olympics and I cherish it so much."

The 28-year-old centre made formal apologies to his team, Bayi Rockets, and the Chinese Basketball Association last week. It has led to his inclusion in the squads for the World Championships in Japan this August and the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

"I want to say sorry to fans and officials for what I've done over the past four years," said Wang. "My wife told me she wanted to see me play in the 2008 Games with our son, and that deeply affected me."

With Yao Ming's World Championships in doubt due to a foot injury, Wang is seen as a major scoring force in the team. But Wang tried to play down expectations.

"I just want to keep myself in good shape and try to find a good way to co-operate with the head coach, Jonas Kazlauskas," he said.

Wang was the first Asian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) when he joined the Dallas Mavericks in 2001, signing a three-year rookie contract.

After his debut season in the NBA, Wang refused to join the national team's training squad for the 2002 World Championships, and then skipped the tournament itself for the NBA summer league.

It went against the agreement the Mavericks had with the CBA for Wang to play in major international competitions for his country during the NBA off-season.

Wang was expelled from the national squad in October 2002 after he refused to come back for the Busan Asian Games.

The turnaround came in 2005 when Wang, who missed the Athens Games in 2004, contacted the CBA through a Chinese reporter, expressing his willingness to compete in the Beijing Olympics.

A meeting with CBA chief Li Yuanwei in the US in February this year was seen as a catalyst for his return.

Wang averaged 22.8 points and 8.9 rebounds a game when he led the Chinese military club, the Bayi Rockets, to consecutive CBA titles from 1996 to 2001.

He played in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, averaging 13.5 points and 5 rebounds a game at Sydney, when he teamed up with Yao as part of China's "Walking Great Wall."

But he has played sparingly in a disappointing NBA career that began with the Mavericks, before moving on to the Los Angeles Clippers and then Miami Heat.

While Yao was not named in yesterday's squad because of injury, the promising forward Yi Jianlian, as well as Du Feng, Tang Zhengdong and Zhu Fangyu, are all included.

Three players from controversial Beijing Aoshen, which quit the CBA to join the ABA League in the United States last season, were drafted in by coach Kazlauskas.

The national team will start a training camp on Saturday for the World Championships in August and the Asian Games in December.

Yao sees hope for World Championships

Yao is recovering well from foot surgery and could still make an appearance at this summer's world championships, according to his agent Zhang Mingji.

Yao will start a physical rehabilitation program soon and plans to be back on the court by late June, Zhang said.

Yao underwent surgery April 14 in Houston to repair the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot, which was broken during a game against Utah. Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said Yao's injury could take 4-6 months to heal.

"I believe there is still a possibility for Yao to participate in the world championships," Zhang said.

Source: China Daily