HANGZHOU, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — Wang Siyu made a layup with 9 seconds left on the clock as China edged Japan 74-72 to efficiently defend its girls’s basketball title on the Hangzhou Asian Games right here on Thursday.
It’s the seventh time for the Chinese girls’s staff to be topped in its Asiad historical past.
During the final minute, ahead Himawari Akaho make her shot outdoors the paint to chop the deficit to at least one level for Japan, earlier than Li Meng answered along with her baseline basket to revive the 3-point cushion for China. Yet, eight seconds later, Japan tied the sport with a swift 3-pointer by Saki Hayashi.
After a timeout, Li Yuan handed the ball to Wang Siyu who drove to the basket to financial institution the successful layup for China as Akaho missed the final shot and Huang Sijing grabbed the rebound.
Among the 5 Chinese gamers scoring double digits, Li Meng was the very best with 17 factors by way of her prowess within the paint, though the Washington Mystics guard solely made one out of eight makes an attempt behind the arc. Backcourt duo Wang Siyu and Li Yuan made 14 and 12 factors respectively.
Saki Hayashi scored a team-high 17 factors for Japan, whereas 34-year-old Maki Takada contributed 13 factors and eight rebounds.
Japan, who positioned third within the 2018 Asiad, stored its conventional fast-pace technique by passing the ball with infinite off-the-ball runnings and threatening the hosts with coast-to-coast quick breaks.
However, China’s twin tower of Han Xu and Li Yueru exploited their peak benefits towards the world No. 9, stepping on courtroom in turns for a mixed 23 factors and 17 rebounds, together with a stand-out six offensive rebounds.
Han, who described herself as “calm” after successful the ultimate, mentioned: “A good center should not only be good in scoring but also need to protect rebounds and play tight and smart defense.”
“Japan is a rival that we are very familiar with. I know they are very tough, especially since they were coming to the Asian Games after losing the Asian Cup,” China’s head coach Zheng Wei mentioned on the post-game press convention.
“But we held back their shootings, we only let them [Japan] make seven 3-pointers tonight, which they would often drop 14 to 15,” Zheng defined.
Zheng mentioned that “spirit and strength” had been the deciders for China to win the championship as “we have some injuries and some players played overseas, so we didn’t have abundant time for the full squad to practice. And we have to use games as training.”
As for the following goal on the Olympic qualifying event, Zheng mentioned that “It’s a must.”
On his half, Japan’s head coach Toru Onzuka despatched his needs to Team China and thanked the satisfying providers supplied by the organizing committee. “The Asian Games Village and the venue are great,” Onzuka mentioned.
In the bronze medal recreation, South Korea smashed DPR Korea 93-63. Center Park Ji-su placed on a 25-point present for South Korea, and veteran guard Kim Dan-bi added 21 factors, six rebounds and 4 assists.
DPR Korean younger core Pak Ji Na, who missed the semifinal as a result of harm, scored a game-high 27 factors, whereas Ro Su Kyong added 20 factors however had 9 turnovers.