Guangdong Vermilion Birds

Guangdong Vermilion Birds is a Chinese professional women's basketball club based in Dongguan, Guangdong, playing in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA). It was known as Guangdong Dolphins from 2007–2018 and Guangdong Kapok before 2007.

Guangdong Vermilion Birds
League	Women's Chinese Basketball Association
History	Guangdong Kapok (2002–07) Guangdong Dolphins (2007–18) Guangdong Vermilion Birds (2018–present)
Arena	Dalang Arena (since 2015)
Capacity	4000
Location	Dongguan, Guangdong (since 2012)
Main sponsor	Guangdong Xintongsheng

The Vermilion Bird is a mythical creature in Chinese culture.

History

The team was founded in 1954 as the Guangdong women's basketball team. The team has a long and rich history and has won numerous accolades over the years. In 2017, the Guangdong women's basketball team won the first National Games championship. In 2018, the team helped the men's basketball women's basketball team win the championship at the Asian Games. Both the men's and women's three-man basketball teams also won gold at the Asian Games. In 2019, the Guangdong women's basketball team was renamed Dongguan Vermilion Birds Women's Basketball. That same year, the team won the WCBA League championship for the first time, achieving the double glory of the 2019 Dongguan Men's and Women's Basketball League.^[1]

In 2023, the team won the 10th "Guangdong Youth May Fourth Medal" collective award, which is the first time that the team has been honored with this award.

The team changed its name from Guangdong women's basketball team to Dongguan Vermilion Birds Women's Basketball Team and its logo from "Dolphin" to "Suzaku", which means auspicious, brave, and powerful.

The team held a meeting for the new season in 2018, and Liu Kejun, vice chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association and president of the Provincial Basketball Association, Huang Huihong, director of the Municipal Sports Bureau, Ye Shufan, member of the town party committee, and relevant personnel such as Xintongsheng Industrial Development Co., Ltd., and New Century Basketball Club unveiled the new team logo.^[2]

Season-by-season records

Season	Corporate Sponsor	Home City	Final Rank	Record (including playoffs)^[1]			Head coach
				W	L	%
Guangdong Kapok
2002	Dongguan Junda	Dongguan	3rd^[3]	10	4	71.4	Zheng Wei
2002–03			2nd^[3]	15	8	65.2
2004	Foshan Hongjia Aluminum	Foshan	6th^[3]	5	5	50.0
2004–05			6th^[3]	9	9	50.0
2005–06		Dongguan	10th^[3]	9	16	36.0
2007	Sunray Cave		7th	4	8	33.3
Guangdong Dolphins
2007–08	Asia Aluminum^[2]	Zhaoqing	6th^[4]	8	10	44.4	Zheng Wei
2008–09		Foshan	6th	12	12	50.0	Zhao Li
2009–10			5th^[5]	14	10	58.3	Chen Duan
2010–11			2nd	23	8	74.2	Pan Wei
2011–12			7th	15	10	60.0
2012–13	Dongguan Daily News	Dongguan	8th^[6]	10	14	41.7	Bo Overton
2013–14			5th^[7]	14	10	58.3	Ma Yongzhong
2014–15	Dongguan Songshan Lake		7th^[8]	13	17	43.3	Yoo Soo-jong
2015–16	Dongguan Marco Polo Group		4th^[9]	17	20	45.9	Wang Wei-chieh
2016–17			6th^[10]	18	19	48.6
2017–18	Guangdong Xintongsheng	Dongguan Shenzhen	4th^[11]	16	17	48.5	Lin Yaosen
Guangdong Vermilion Birds
2018–19	Guangdong Xintongsheng	Dongguan					Lin Yaosen

Current players

2018–19 Guangdong Vermilion Birds roster
Players	Coaches
} } } } Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G 3   Yang Liwei 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) 62 kg (137 lb) PF 5   Wang Zhen 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 78 kg (172 lb) G 6   Shen Yi 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) 75 kg (165 lb) SF 7   Zhang Dongxia 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 76 kg (168 lb) SF 9   Liu Geting 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 70 kg (154 lb) PF 11   Huang Sijing 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 83 kg (183 lb) G 12   Yu Yue 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 62 kg (137 lb) F 13   Chen Liyu 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 78 kg (172 lb) C 15   Dilana Dilixiati 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 86 kg (190 lb) C 16   Li Yueru 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 103 kg (227 lb) G 20   Bi Huiyi 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 67 kg (148 lb) SF 23   Aerial Powers 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 70 kg (154 lb) SG 30   Yang Shuyu 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 70 kg (154 lb) PF 33   Nneka Ogwumike 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 85 kg (187 lb)	Head coach   Lin Yaosen Assistant coach(es)   Luka Sjekloća   Zhang Chongxi Legend (C) Team captain   Injured

Notable former players

•   Deanna Jackson (2002–05)
•   Chasity Melvin (2008–09)
•   Swin Cash (2009–12)
•   Ashley Corral (2012)
•   Tamika Catchings (2012–13)
•   Aneika Henry (2014–15)
•   Yelena Leuchanka (2015–17)
•   Candace Parker (2016)
•   Glory Johnson (2017)
•   Amber Harris (2017–18)
•   Yui Hanada (2009–10)
•   Yang Ya-hui (2015–17)
•   Xu Chunmei (2002)
•   Pan Wei (2002–05)
•   Song Xiaoyun (2002–09)
•   Guan Xin (2004–13)
•   Wei Wei (2004–14)
•   Huang Hongpin (2007–14, 2017–18)

References

1. "广东新彤盛女子篮球队". Chinese Basketball Association (organisation) (in Chinese).
2. Ye Hui (叶慧) (2007-11-22). "广东女篮迎来坚强后盾 喜获冠名新赛季目标更高". New Express (in Chinese).
3. "2002-2006年中国WCBA篮球甲级联赛最终排名". jx918.net (in Chinese). 2006-02-26.
4. "2007-2008特步中国女子篮球甲级联赛最终排名". Sina.com (in Chinese). 2008-02-25.
5. "WCBA总决赛辽宁成功卫冕 浙江山东降入乙级联赛". Southern Metropolis Daily (in Chinese). 2010-03-06.
6. "2012-2013WCBA联赛最终排名". Chinese Basketball Association (organisation) (in Chinese).
7. "WCBA最终排名：山西卫冕 首支降级冠军队诞生". qq.com (in Chinese). 2014-03-04.
8. "2014－2015赛季WCBA联赛最终排名". Chinese Basketball Association (organisation) (in Chinese).
9. "2015-2016赛季中国女子篮球联赛最终排名". Chinese Basketball Association (organisation) (in Chinese).
10. "2016-2017赛季中国女子篮球联赛排名". Chinese Basketball Association (organisation) (in Chinese).
11. "2017-2018赛季WCBA中国女子篮球联赛最终排名". Sohu.com (in Chinese). 2018-03-14.