China’s women’s basketball team won respect and encouragement from Chinese netizens for their sportsmanship     1     (display) in the gold-medal game against Team US in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup on Saturday, after finishing in second place.

In Friday’s semi-final, China defeated host Australia 61-59 and entered the World Cup final for the second time in almost three decades. This is a significant     2     (achieve) for a team with an average age of less than 26 years old. The Chinese team won six times in this year’s World Cup before Saturday’s final. The only defeat was that it     3     (lose) 63-77 to the US during the group stages.

When     4     (face) the world’s top-ranked Team USA, the reigning champions, the Chinese players showed a strong desire     5     (fight) until the end.     6    the Chinese players failed to conjure a miracle in the final, their progress is     7     (definite) worth being proud of. Cheryl Reeve, coach of Team USA,     8    claimed their fourth FIBA World Cup title in     9     row, said she saw the growth of their Chinese rivals. “This is a great time for the Chinese women’s national team. It’s a very, very good team,” she told the press conference.

After the game, the Chinese Basketball Association on Sina Weibo congratulated China’s women’s national basketball team     10    finishing runners up again after 28 years. It also expressed gratitude to every athlete, coach, and staff member in the team for their dedication.