The basketball star will join the Chinese National Team at the upcoming Stakovic Cup Olympic warmup tournament in the eastern city of Hangzhou.

(CCTV 07-16-2008 17:12)--Yao Ming is finally ready to play his first game since suffering a stress fracture to his left foot in February. The basketball star will join the Chinese National Team at the upcoming Stakovic Cup Olympic warmup tournament in the eastern city of Hangzhou.

Yao Ming returned to light training late last month. With the foot about 80 percent healed, the center will try to regain his form through the warmups. China's first game at the Stakovic Cup is against Serbia on Thursday, with further games scheduled against Angola and Russia. These are also Yao Ming and his team's final warmup games before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The team's opener at the Games is against the USA on August 10th. But, despite the injury and tough rivals, Yao Ming is staying upbeat.

Yao Ming said "Basically, my foot injury is no problem now and my main focus is to regain my form. The doctor also suggested I go back on court late in July. We will play Team USA in the opener and it's tough. To be honest, we are not at the same level. But, we will not give up the chance to show our skills."