Korea ward off spirited Taipei to book U19 Worlds ticket

BANGKOK, Thailand (FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women 2016) – Korea grabbed the third and final ticket to the FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship 2017, after beating Chinese Taipei, 66-63, in a thrilling contest in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday. The Park JiSu-less Korea started the game slow but gained confidence soon enough to clinch the bronze medal. An injured JiSu was subbed in during the last minute of the game for the sole purpose of creating commotion in the rival’s lines.

The efforts of Chinese Taipei's players, and especially that of Wang Jing-Ting, who scored a team-high 24 points, did not result in a win, even though Coach Chen Mei-Li and her girls kept things close at many points in the game, exchanging the lead 10 times with their opponents.

Turning point: Coming from 5 points down, 43-48, at the midpoint of the third quarter, coach Kim YoungMin's girls made a big run to eventually tie the score at the end of the period, 52-all. After that boost of confidence, Korea's girls maintained the upper hand for most of the final frame till the end of the game.

Stats don’t lie: Chinese Taipei committed 20 turnovers compared to Korea's 12, and the Koreans took full advantage by scoring 24 points off their opponent’s errors. Coach Kim's wards stole the ball 5 times more than their opponents, 13-8, thanks mainly to their effective full court press.

Game hero(es): Park JiHyun was the most efficient player on court today, being a leader for her teammates in the absence of team captain JiSu. After a slow first quarter, Park picked things up and had an amazing performance. She scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and stole the ball on 4 occasions. Teammate Lee JuYeon also impressed by adding a stunning 31 points.

The bottom line: Despite a slow start to the game and the absence of their team captain, Korea’s players were up to the challenge in this close game. They rebounded from an unfortunate defeat yesterday to Japan, and they proved beyond any shadow of doubt that they deserve a spot in the FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship.

FIBA