The Chinese women's national basketball team will be taking on unbeaten Belarus in the quarterfinal round of the ongoing 2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Friday in Nantes, France.

The Chinese squad, which is eighth in the FIBA world rankings, registered a 1-1 record to finish second in the group stage, with a 77-59 victory over Venezuela and a 77-43 defeat from third-ranked Spain.

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Spain sits atop Group D with two wins, while Venezuela ended their qualifying campaign with an 0-2 record.

Belarus, which is currently ranked tenth, got the better of the Nigerians with a 71-60 victory in the opener. However, they suffered a heart-breaking 66-65 loss to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in Group C.

The decorated head coach of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship runner-up Australian national team, Tom Maher, said that China's quarterfinal showdown with Belarus is "a 50-50 contest," although he feels that China has a chance to advance and earn one of five slots in the upcoming Rio Games this August.

Belarus, which finished sixth in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, will enter this important game looking to return to the Olympics for the first time in eight years. 

Other quarterfinal matches of the tourney will feature No. 4 France against No. 15 Argentina, No. 11 Turkey against No. 13 Cuba, and No. 3 Spain versus No. 12 South Korea.

As per the tournament's format, the twelve participating teams were distributed into four different groups. The top two teams in each group will advance to the last eight, and the winners of each quarterfinal matchup will earn Olympic spots. The four losing teams will compete for the fifth and final Olympic berth.

Tagschinese women's national basketball team, belarus women's national basketball team, 2016 women's olympic qualiying tournament, tom maher, FIBA