China to defend title against Final debutant Australia after dramatic win over Japan

BENGALURU (India) - Chin return to defend their title against Australia who will be making their first Final appearance in the FIBA U18 Women’s Asian Championship 2022 Division A title game.

Korea were the first team to secure a victory in the day with a 73-56 win over New Zealand, clinching 5th place in the progress.

Kim Mina was among one of three double-digit scorers for Korea with 15 points while also collecting 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals. Meanwhile, Ko Seoyeon and Lee Dahyun also added 14 points each for Korea.

The first team to advance to the Finals was Australia as they held off Chinese Taipei, 70-61.

Even though Australia had led for almost the entire game, Chinese Taipei were always close enough behind to put pressure on the Gems. The tandem of Isobel Borlase (19 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals) and Isla Juffermans (15 points and 16 rebounds) continues to be a problem for the opposition as they make their way to the Final for the first time.

Sung Jui Chen stepped up for Chinese Taipei in this game for 25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.

The last spot in the U18 Women’s Asian Championship 2022 Division A Final was played between Japan and China, two teams who had both been to the past 5 Finals in the competition. With only one of the teams able to advance, it was China who survived a phenomenal rally by Japan to win, 54-51.

After a low-scoring first quarter where the two teams were knotted up for the majority of the time, China slowly broke away with a 10-0 run before the end of the first half. Japan frantically made a comeback effort and even though they were able to score 6 points in the final minute, there was not enough time on the clock for them to get ahead or even tie the game up.

China Chu Huixuan stepped up out of nowhere for her best performance of the tournament with 18 points and 6 rebounds on 4 made three-pointers. Her points scored and three-pointers made in this game eclipsed her entire total in both categories prior to this contest, though she had been China’s leader in assists with 6.5 per game.

China’s leading scorer in the competition, Li Wenxia, added 15 points while Hu Duoling also put up 11 points.

Chinami Yokoyama had a well-rounded game with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists for Japan.

As a result of the games played today, the Final pairing of the FIBA U18 Women’s Asian Championship 2022 Division A is confirmed to be between five-time defending championship China and Australia who will be making their first appearance in the championship game. The game will be played at 18:00 GMT +5.5 tomorrow.

Chinese Taipei, who are aiming for their best finish in the competition since 2010, and Japan will be played for third place at 15:45 GMT +5.5.

All teams who played in the Semi-Finals will be playing in the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup next year in Madrid, Spain.

FIBA