HEFEI, April 7 (Xinhua) -- To scout more teenage talents, basketball trials were being held in different places in China, including middle school campuses around the country.

"The trials give us a good opportunity to whet our skills and to get ready for the professional in the future," said 15-year-old Wei Changhao, a 1.92-meter student who was among the 119 teenagers making through the first phase nationwide selection.

During the trials, the teenagers were requested to showcase their skills in pinpoint shooting, backward jumpers, fast break lay-ups and full court dribbling.

Recently, the three provinces of Anhui, Shandong and Henan were chosen by the China Basketball College to select those promising teenagers.

Under the 2019 program, a part of the long-term plan of the Chinese Basketball Association, a bunch of teenagers will be sent abroad for training in central and eastern Europe.

Mou Jian, a member of the college, said that "we have two paths to select our young talents. One is through China Basketball Association, and the another is through China Basketball College. We are all doing our utmost in setting up a multi-level system so as to cultivate more teenage players."

In 2018, China Basketball College launched the first trial to pick up the top-notch talents, and eventually selected those 119 out of the 800-odd throng of teenagers nationwide.

The basketball college, set up by Beijing Sports University in 2017, hoped to "cultivate young basketball players with international vision and high qualities," said Song Zhigang, the concerned person of the college.