Wang Shixuan

Wang Shixuan, a native of Jilin, was trained the Yuzhong Military School in Longli, Guizhou and competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics with the Chinese basketball team. During the Sino-Japanese War he founded a “School Team” of former students of the military school under the Military Supplies Department’s Automobile Unit. With Wang as captain and later as coach of the team they continued to play successfully, for instance at the Seventh National Games in 1948.

In 1949, the team was invited to Hong Kong for a friendly match. In order to reduce its military appearance, the team was officially renamed the “Seven Tigers”. In December of the same year, the Seven Tigers travelled to Taiwan. On the day after the match, the communists seized power on the mainland and the team could not return. Wang Shixuan, later promoted to the rank of a general, and the “Seven Tigers” greatly influenced the development of modern basketball in Taiwan. His son Wang Qixian also became a well-known player in Taiwan.