SHENZHEN (China) - Their goal of reaching the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2025 have been met, but the four remaining teams have not forgotten why they are all here in Shenzhen.
Australia, China, Japan, and Korea are all out to bring home the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup 2024 title, and will surely leave everything on the hardwood as they compete in the Semi-Finals on Saturday at the Longhua Cultural and Sports Center.
Before we shift all our attention to the upcoming clashes, we take a look at some of the burning questions for each of the qualified teams.
Another sweep for the Gems?
Australia only have one thing in mind and that is to win the gold for the second time in a row, laying the foundation of what could be a dynasty in the competition.
The Gems swept their way into this year's Semi-Finals by finishing Group A with a 3-0 record, which also means that they haven't lost since their first appearance into the continental meet in 2018.
After losing to Japan in the 2018 Semi-FInals, the Australians are now on a 9-game winning streak, including a 5-0 conquest of the 2022 meet to get the crown.
Will they be able to sustain as much? That remains to be seen. But making things all the more interesting in this watch is that they are facing Japan once again Will history repeat itself? Or will the script get flipped?
How far can Zhang Ziyu take China?
There's no doubt that the biggest star of this year's U18 Women's Asia Cup has been Zhang Ziyu. The 2.20M (7'3") center, the tallest to ever play in competition history, wowed in her debut before going beast mode in the next two outings.
She's now leading the competition in scoring, rebounding, and blocks with averages of 33.0 points on an 88.2-percent field goal accuracy, 11.3 boards, and 2.3 rejections per game.
With her, China swept their way into the Semi-Finals (3-0) and are seen as a huge favorite to win the title - something they haven't done since 2018. Their foes are Korea, who for many years have been a serious contender in the tourney as well.
With the stakes now higher, can Zhang remain the dreaded force that she has been? Or does Korea have something up their sleeve to pull off a massive upset?
Game is set at 19:00 local time, with the venue expected to welcome more spectators in support of China - and to see the 17-year-old prospect wow the crowd once again.
Can Japan regain their touch?
Bronze medalists of the previous contest, Japan definitely want to taste gold this time. There's a concern, however, about their field goal shooting.
After shooting 42.9-percent in their opening day win against New Zealand, their percentage has been descending. And on Friday, it hit its worst at 32.9-percent although they managed to escape Chinese Taipei to get to the Semi-FInals.
That said, Japan national teams at all levels have the potential to catch fire with their shooting in any given game, and that could be their turning point in the finals stages of this competition.
They're going up against the mighty Australia in a bout scheduled at 16:00 local time. Will they find their touch?
Redemption tour for Korea?
After being a fixture in the Semis for a long time, Korea failed to make it past the Qualification to the Semi-Finals back in 2022 as they lost to Chinese Taipei.
Now they're back into the said stage, which also sent them back to the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup after missing last year's edition that halted their lengthy streak of five consecutive appearances in the prestigious global conclave.
They've been on a roll, too. After losing to the Australians in the Group Phase, the team has now won two in a row. Will they be able to sustain their solid form, especially when they go up against the much bigger Team China?
FIBA