Australia, China, Korea and Japan post confident opening day wins

BENGALURU (FIBA U18 Women's Asian Championship 2018) – The opening day saw results along expected lines as top sides Australia, China, Korea and Japan all posted assured wins. 

Australia launched its campaign against Indonesia and led from start to finish. The two sides were thoroughly mismatched as the Gems capitalized on their size advantage to score at will in the paint.  While Australia's 96 points may draw eyeballs, their work on the defensive end needs special mention, as Indonesia was restricted to 10 points or under in each of the four quarters.

The second game of the day was between 15 time champions China against Malaysia. This game was even more lopsided than Australia's, as China became the first and only team so far to breach 100 points. 

Both Indonesia and Malaysia won't be too disheartened though with today's results, as their primary goal will be to avoid relegation to Division B.

The last two Division A games were much closer affairs as Korea took on Taipei followed by Japan vs New Zealand.

In terms of playing style, there was little to separate Korea from Taipei. But Korea shot marginally better from the field and also had fewer turnovers to eventually win by an eight point margin. 

In the final Division A game of the day, Japan's fast tempo offense proved too much for New Zealand to handle. Japan built a double digit lead through the first half, before New Zealand made a spirited comeback in the third. But that only seemed to push Japan back into a higher gear in the final ten minutes.

RESULTS

Australia bt Indonesia, 96-28

China bt Malaysia, 102-28

Korea bt Taipei, 64-56

Japan bt New Zealand, 77-62

 FIBA

FIBA