Following easy victory in their preliminary group of the Doha Asian Games men's basketball tournament, Kazakhstan now had an ambitious plan to upset Asian champions China in their encounter in the second-round competitions.

"It's a big game and it will be a challenge for our team. We have the chance because they don't have Yao Ming in their team. So who knows?" said forward Yevgeniy Issakov, who scored 18 points in Kazakhstan's 102-76 win over Kuwait on Sunday.

Kazakhstan, who advanced into the top 12 round as winners of the preliminary Group D, will play China on Saturday in its opening match in Group A, which also includes Japan, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan. Top four finishers from the pool will qualify for the quarter-finals.

The Chinese, who suffered a stunning over-time loss 102-100 to South Korea in the men's basketball final of the Busan Asian Gamesin 2002, will be playing without NBA all-star center Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets.