Off the wire
• Suh Hangs on to Wuhan challenge lead  • Chinese fishermen recall salvage of British captives in WWII  • More cross-border payments billed in RMB in Asia: SWIFT  • Chinese premier meets Thai deputy PM  • Ending Syria war key to resolving refugee crisis in Europe: Finnish president  • Chinese Huawei vows to bring latest ICT solutions to Africa  • China vows to deepen cooperation with Algeria  • Feature: School offers hope for deaf children in Somalia  • Hungary passes laws curbing migration  • Chinese religious circles mark war anniversary  
You are here: 　 Home

China to face defending champion Japan in Asia Women's Basketball Championship final

Xinhua, September 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thanks to a strong first quarter, China gave their head coach Thomas Maher a wonderful 63-year-old birthday gift with a 60-45 win over arch-rival South Korea in the 26th FIBA Asia Women's Basketball Championship semifinals here on Friday and booked an encounter in Saturday's final with defending champion Japan.

After the win, the birthday song to Maher echoed in Wuhan Sports Center, while the coach found it not easy to taste the "cake".

"It was a lot to be a winning team. It was a physical game. I thought that our defense was wonderful, and that was the main part of the game," he said.

Huang Hongpin had team-high 10 points for China. Teammates Sun Mengran and Huang Sijing had 9 and 8 respectively.

China lost to South Korea in the semifinals two years ago. China has been the champion in Asian Championship for 11 times, only one shy of South Korea in the tournament's history.

The hosts heated up quicker into the game than their opponents. After Huang Hongpin made the hosts' first shot with a jumper, the Chinese team had a strong performance in both ends of the floor. South Korea was restricted to just six points, while China used fluent offense to finish with 19 points as the first quarter ran out.

With a 25-point lead in hand into the last 12 minutes, the Chinese players had a little distraction. South Korea once cut the deficit to 11 points through consecutive three-pointers. Veteran Zhang Fan secured the victory with two free throws.

"With a 25-point lead after three quarters, you need to be very tough to keep that. We just eased off a little bit, but most time our defense was OK. The opponents just made several great shots during that period," said Maher.

South Korean player Yang Ji Hee finished with game-high 12 points. Kim Danbi added 11 points.

"The Chinese team is progressing every time. We cannot make into the final this time, but we can do better next time," said South Korean head coach We Sungwoo.

Compared with their opponents in the final, Japan secured another berth with dominating display in the last quarter. After trailing by three points after three quarters, the titleholder reversed the momentum with a 14-0 run midway through the last quarter, and sealed the win at 65-58 over Chinese Taipei.

Ramu Tokashiki and Sanae Motokawa had 15 apiece for Japan.

"They are a strong opponent, and they have a lot of experience," said Chinese Taipei center Bao Hsi-Le, who had 18 points and nine rebounds.

South Korea and Chinese Taipei will compete for the third place on Saturday.

Elsewhere, the DPR Korea upset Thailand 66-50, and the Philippines downed India 82-76. The DPR Korea and the Philippines will feature in level 1 matches of next edition two years from now. Endi