AMMAN (Jordan) - Duan Ruiqi nailed the biggest shot of his career to date as China rallied from behind to frustrate Japan, 68-66, to sweep their way into the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 Quarter-Finals, Wednesday at the Prince Hamza Hall.
The 1.91 M (6'3") guard showed nerves of steel in crunch time, nailing the booming trey from the left wing - off a Zhang Boyuan kick-out - with 2.8 seconds left to play to lift the Chinese ahead after trailing by as many as 12 points during the third quarter.
Riku Segawa missed the potential game-tying jumper on the other end as time expired, and the young Team Dragon would go on to erupt in jubilation as they completed the fightback and secured a clean sweep of Group C as well.
That kind of poise, furthermore, enabled China to preserve what has been a 22-year mastery of their fellow traditional powerhouse in the U18 competitions. The last time they lost to Japan was in the 2002 edition of meet held in Kuwait.
Zhang top-scored for China with 22 points, including the pair of free throws that tied the game up at 65-all with 46.9 seconds left, and netted an efficiency of 21.
Duan finished with 15 points, spiked by a pair of triples, while Chen Jiazheng supplied 11 points for a team seeking to regain the gold they last won in 2014.
Segawa, on the other hand, top-scored with 23 points for Japan, who will finish the Group Phase as the no. 2 seed of the pool with a 2-1 record.
The playmaker shot 9-of-10 from the free throw line but that lone miss of his would surely hurt the most as it could've given them a two-point lead when he got sent to the line with 13.0 seconds left - just moments prior to Duan's game-winner.
Leon Watanabe made 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Shogo Takata was the only other player to finish in twin digits for Japan with 10 points.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Ndao erupted for 35 points and 17 rebounds to power Qatar to a come-from-behind win of their own against Kazakhstan, 71-64.
The young yet experienced forward came through when it mattered most, scoring four consecutive points to give his side the 60-57 lead with 6:12 remaining in the game - that, after they fell behind by as many as 11 points during the third quarter.
Yassin Mousa would help him afterwards, nailing crucial buckets of his own before Ndao came back in to stretch their lead to 67-59 with less than two minutes left, and their efforts were more than enough to give Qatar their first win of the tilt.
Ndao's 35 is the most points in the U18 Asia Cup since India's Rajeev Kumar had 40 in 2018. His 44 efficiency, furthemore, is the most by a player since 2016.
Bolatbek Baktygali, on the other hand, had 13 points to lead Kazakhstan, who fell to 0-3. Roman Baibolov and Alisher Muratuly added 11 and 10, respectively.
FIBA