INA - Japan stun China; Fancied foursome enter semis

MEDAN (FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women): Defending champions China suffered their first defeat in seven championships going down 71-87 to a feisty Japanese combination in a Level I game of the 19th FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women on Thursday.

The last time China lost a game in this championship was when they lost to Korea in the final of the 1992 edition at Beijing.

The result, however, had no bearing on the progress of the two to the semifinals.

In the semifinals scheduled for Saturday, China will take on Korea (3-2 in Level I) and Japan will match wits with Chinese Taipei (2-3).

The foursome, thus will play the semifinals of the championship for the 10th edition in a row. The last time any other team made the last four was when Malaysia finished fourth way back in 1984 at Seoul.

China had steamrollered all their four previous opponents by a 51-point average and seemed to head for an all-win record in Level I, till they met their match in the Japanese sharp-shooting skills.

Japan too had won all their four outings previously by convincing margins, although not as high as the Chinese.

"That (the underdog status) helped us," said Japan coach Tatsushi Isshiki.

"Of course you need special preparations when you play China. It was just that those preparations proved fruitful," he said adding, "I hope we can carry it for another two games."

"The defeat is a wake-up call," said China coach Li Yaguang.

"One bad day is a given thing in a championship, especially in this age-group of youngsters. I just hope that the girls can bounce back," he said.

The other two in Level I - India and Malaysia - will be involved in play-offs with the top two finishers of Level II to retain their place in this elite division.

Level I Scores

Japan 87 (Ramu Tokashiki 27, Yuka Mamiya 24) bt China 71 (Zhang Chenrui 16, Qiu Siyue 14). Quarterwise Scores: 28-16, 46-32, 64-54, 87-71.

Japan 96 (Ramu Tokashiki 17, Chinatsu Yamamoto 16) bt Ch. Taipei 67 (Pei-Chun Hsieh 21, Yi-Lin Chang 13). Quarterwise Scores: 26-20, 47-35, 77-53.

Japan 111 (Chinatsu Yamamoto 15, Kyoko Hamaguchi 12) bt India 34 (Pratima Singh 18). Quarterwise Scores: 25-13, 60-20, 89-26.

Japan 90 (Kana Motoyama 20, Misaki Onuma 13) bt Malaysia 50 (Hui Pin Pang 18, Ching Yee Yap 13). Quarterwise Scores: 26-11, 51-30, 69-40.

Japan 78 (Yuka Mamiya 18, Yukine Abe 14) bt Korea 65 (Hana Park 12, Hyejin Park 11). Quarterwise Scores: 24-13, 45-27, 68-42.

China 95 (Zhao Shuang 28, Qiu Siyue 13, Zhang Chenrui 13) bt Ch. Taipei 65 (Szu-Chin Peng 15, Chiao-Hui Lo 15). Quarterwise Scores: 39-21, 59-33, 79-53.

China 98 (Zhao Shuang 21, Zhang Chenrui 17, Lu Wen 14) bt Malaysia 26 (Hui Pin Pang 10). Quarterwise Scores: 30-6, 57-13, 80-19.

China 127 (Zhao Shuang 21, Lu Wen 20, Zheng Bowen 17) bt India 29. Quarterwise Scores: 36-8, 67-13, 97-15

China 100 (Qiu Siyue 19, Zheng Bowen 16, Zhao Shuang 16) bt Korea 45 (Hyojin Ahn 14). Quarterwise Scores: 20-8, 46-26, 68-34.

Korea 108 (Hyejin Hwang 20, Hana Park 19, Won Sun Choi 15) bt India 52 (Aruna Kindo 10, Pratima Singh 10). Quarterwise Scores: 24-16, 48-29, 79-38.

Korea 88 (Hana Park 23, Hyejin Ahn 21) bt Malaysia 39 (Wei Yin Saw 14). Quarterwise Scores: 11-13, 30-22, 68-36.

Korea 90 (Hana Park 31, Hyejin Park 16) bt Ch. Taipei 76 (Pei-Chun Hseih 25). Quarterwise Scores: 28-17, 54-33, 75-49

Ch. Taipei 92 (Pei-Chun Hsieh 28, Chiao-Hui Lo 22) bt India 63 (Sonika Ohlyan 25, Pratima Singh 22). Quarterwise Scores: 28-16, 48-33, 67-48.

Ch. Taipei 91 (Chiao-Hui Lo 26, Szu-Chin Peng 13) bt Malaysia 50 (Mei Chyn Wong 12). Quarterwise Scores: 25-15, 39-31, 67-44.

Malaysia 72 (Hui Pin Pang 25, Eugene Ting 18, Mei Chyn Wong 15) bt India 64 (Stephy Nixon 14, Kavita 13). Quarterwise Scores: 14-12, 34-22, 51-44.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia