Day 1: Fiery Korea, defense-oriented Chinese Taipei, Japan get off to rousing starts

AMMAN (Jordan) - Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Japan began their respective campaigns dominantly in the FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship 2023 opener, Monday at the Prince Hamza Sport Hall.

Hot-shooting from deep propel Korea past Syria

Korea opened the tilt with a 91-58 mauling of Syria following a splendid shooting from deep.

Hwang Hyeonjeong led the way with 21 points, which all came from downtown as she made 7 of the team's 19 3-pointers to shoot their way to a dominant start to the festivities.

Lee Gahyun supplied 18 points, 7 rebounds, an assist, 3 steals, and a block. Hwang Yeonsoo submitted a full line as well with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, and a block.

Song Jihoo chimed in 12 markers for the Koreans, who began to pull away in the second quarter by turning a narrow five-point lead to a 41-27 advantage at the half before erupting for 30 big points in the third chapter - establishing a wall too high for the Syrians to climb.

Put to naught by the loss were the efforts of Aya Almohammad, who led Syria with a game-high 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Zeina Backour was her only backup with 13.

 

Chinese Taipei cruise past Thailand in historic rout

Defense was indeed key as Chinese Taipei showed no mercy whatsoever in dealing Chinese Taipei a 117-28 beatdown to gain a share of Group A leadership with Korea.

Chinese Taipei raced to a 36-7 lead in the game's first 10 minutes, and would never lift their foot off the gas pedal by keeping the defensive intensity high the entire affair.

They racked up a total of 43 steals as the Thais committed a whopping 59 turnovers.

All 12 players of Coach Hsiu Mien Hsu scored at least 2 points in the victory, with Chen Chia Shan Pan leading the pack with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 7 steals. Yu Han Lin supplied 15 points, while Hsin Ying Wu provided 13 points and 5 assists.

Yu Hsuan Yeh also had 13 points alongside 7 rebounds. Zih Chen Chen had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds with 5 assists. Yu Ting Hsu had 11 as well while Yu Shan Hsu added 10 as a total of seven players finished in double figures for Chinese Taipei.

The dominant victories of both Chinese Taipei and Korea proved to be a solid warmup for both teams as they will lock horns tomorrow, Tuesday, 11 July at 11:00 local time.

 

Japan deal debuting Samoa harsh welcome

It didn't take long for Japan to gather steam and roll past Division A debutants Samoa, 106-28, to wrap up the first gameday of of the topflight level.

Game was tied at 5-all early but the young Akatsuki found their touch and put together 17 unanswered points, marking the start of a lopsided affair as last year's Division B winners received a reminder of how high the level of competition is in the first division.

Japan relied much on their suffocating defense in the romp, collecting a total of 36 steals as they forced their counterparts to commit 61 turnovers.

That kind of tenacity translated to better offense as well, with a total of five players scoring in twin digits in the lopsided win led by the 24 points of An Kanazawa, built on 6 triples.

Hiyu Ota made 14 points. Sara Yamada provided 12 points and 6 assists. Nanako Tanakura had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists while Kokona Suzuki added 10 markers and 7 boards in the win that enabled Japan to capture early leadership of Group B.

L'Oreal Hiko, meanwhile, led Samoa with 11 points and 8 rebounds.

 
Daily Highs
Efficiency: 30, Zih Chen Chen (TPE)
Points: 21, Hyeonjeong Hwang (KOR)
Rebounds: 11, Zih Chen Chen (TPE)
Assists: 9, Wonjung Lee (KOR)
Blocks: 2, Terelse Sufia Reupena (SAM); Hyeeun Yang (KOR); Lilete Sarkis (SYR)

Results
Group A
Korea def. Syria, 91-58
Chinese Taipei def. Thailand, 117-28

Group B
Japan def. Samoa, 106-28

FIBA