Australia, Japan set for Final trilogy

AMMAN (Jordan) - Australia and Japan will duke it out for the ultimate prize yet again after dispatching of their respective opponents in the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship 2023-Division A, Saturday at the Prince Hamzah Sport Hall.

The Sapphires and the young Akatsuki are bound to meet in the championship bout of the biennial youth continental meet for the third consecutive time, with the former locked in on keeping their mastery of the latter and secure an unprecedented three-peat on Sunday.

Sapphires keep historic bid alive

Australia were the first to reach the Final after dealing New Zealand a 99-62 mauling.

Lara Somfai led the way with 24 points and 7 rebounds as she helped the Sapphires break the game wide open before the first quarter ended on their way to the Big Dance, where the opportunity to become the only team to rule the competition three times in a row lies.

Not only did they earn themselves another shot at the gold but the Australians have further extended the tournament's longest winning streak to 17, dating back to 2017.

Sienna Lehmann played her best game of the tilt to date with 16 points, on top of 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 steals. Coco Hodges submitted a full line of 15 markers, 6 boards, 7 dimes, 4 steals, and a block for a game-high efficiency rating of 27.0, while Sophie Taylor added 14.

Waikimihia Douglas - Karauna, on the other hand, had 13 for New Zealand, who will now turn their attention to the Third-Place Game also on Sunday as they aim for their first-ever podium finish.

 

Big Dance for the sixth time

Japan would go on to complete the title picture following a 93-46 romping of Chinese Taipei.

Kokona Abe shone with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field alongside 7 rebounds and 2 assists to lead the way for the Akatsuki, who are marching on to their fifth straight, sixth Final appearance overall, hoping to snag their breakthrough gold medal this time.

An Kanazawa supplied 16 points, spiked by a quartet of triples. Otoha Goto made 11 points and 7 rebounds while Mahiro Iwasaka chimed in 10 in the victory that saw the team shoot 55.5-percent from the floor - the highest field goal accuracy by any team in the ongoing meet.

Abe, Kanazawa, and Goto were among those responsible in helping the Japanese leap to an 18-4 advantage in the first quarter, marking the start of a lopsided affair.

Chinese Taipei were led by the 13 points of Yu Han Lin. Yu Chen Peng and Jo Yen Wang added 10 markers each in the loss, which relegated the team to the Third-Place Game against New Zealand. The squad is hoping to bag home their first bronze medal since 2009.

 

Classification: Syria end run with W

The first game of the classification phase, meanwhile, saw Samoa pull away in the fourth quarter to beat Syria, 72-50, to make sure their run would end triumphantly.

Peata Manumaluega finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while L'Oreal Hiko posted 12 markers and 10 boards as the two spearheaded a blistering 19-0 run to turn a narrow three-point lead to 70-48 with under a minute left to play that left the opposition completely overwhelmed.

The Samoans, after a back-and-forth affair in the first three chapters, outscored their counterparts 23-7 in the fourth on the way to closing out their campaign with a victory.

Mylaani Sione also supplied 12 points with 11 rebounds, while Tereise Sufia Reupena chipped in 10 and 15 as three players registered double-doubles in the triumph.

On the other hand, Aya Almohammad led the fight for Syria once more with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. Luna Ayash backed her up with 12 points and 5 rebounds.