Korea topple China in thrilling opener as New Zealand, Australia, Japan cruise to wins
AUCKLAND (New Zealand) & KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia) - Korea beat China in exciting fashion in Auckland while New Zealand, Australia, and Japan claim wins in first day of Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament.
AUCKLAND (New Zealand) & KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia) - The FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments 2019 for Asia-Oceania region got off to a fun start with Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan successfully claiming wins in their respective games.
The highlight game of the day was between two Asian powerhouses China and Korea in the opener at The Trust Arena, Auckland. Korea edged out the Women’s Asia Cup runners-up in the final seconds of the game, 81-80.
Park Ji Su missed out on representing Korea at the Asia Cup and showed how much of a difference she could have made in this game. The 20-year-old star center racked up 23 points on 9-13 shooting from the field, fuelling Korea to a lead as big as 13 points in the game.
China made a furious rally back to tie the game at 77 before a three-point by Li Meng gave them their first lead of the game since early in the first quarter with less than a minute to go.
Korea kept their composure, held China scoreless until the final buzzer and got two clutch layups by Kim Jung Eun and Park Hyejin to secure an impressive win. Kim stepped up in the 4th quarter with China locking Park Ji Su down, finishing with 21 points on 3-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
China’s Li Yueru and Huang Sijing combined for 29 points on 12-13 shooting from the field.
Korea had lost to China 4 straight times in the Asia Cup heading into this game with the last win all the way back in 2013.
New Zealand, Australia, and Japan had less trouble securing their wins.
The Tall Ferns, who were hosting the event in Group A, treated their fans to a routing of the Philippines from start to finish, 111-54. Coach Guy Molloy’s squad distributed the ball well, getting everyone on the scoreboard with a 35 assists in total. Tessa Boagni tied with Penina Davidson for a team-high 16 points, though Boagni did it impressively with a perfect 6-6 shooting from the field.
The Philippines for the majority of their scoring load from Afril Bernardino who put in 17 points for the Gilas Pilipinas Womens.
Australia also breezed through to a victory over Chinese Taipei in Group B action at MABA Stadium, 84-51.
Liz Cambage went off for 6 straight points to start the game for Australia and they never looked back. She finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Cayla George also had a good game for the Opals with 12 points on 4-5 shooting and 9 boards.
Defending Asia Cup champions Japan managed easily past India with a 120-29 win to close out the first day of action.
Asami Yoshida recoreded 11 assists in her return to the national team with 7 of her teammates in double-digit scoring. Leading the group was Kiho Miyashita who had 21 points.com
FIBA