Hey basketball fans! Have you heard the exciting news? Japan’s women’s basketball team pulled off an amazing victory against the defending champions, China, in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup! They won 90-81 in an intense semifinal game held in Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong Province.
The star of the game was 19-year-old Kokoro Tanaka, who scored a whopping 27 points! That’s a lot of baskets! 🏅 She was super accurate, making 10 out of 16 shots. Her teammates, Yuki Miyazawa and Norika Konno, also played great, adding 18 and 14 points respectively.
China’s team put up a good fight. Yang Shuyu scored 19 points, Han Xu added 18, and Zhang Ziyu contributed 17 points. At first, China had some trouble with turnovers (that’s when the other team takes the ball away), but they caught up in the second quarter and even led at halftime!
But in the third quarter, Japan came back strong! They made lots of three-pointers (that’s when you score from far away), and built up a lead. China tried hard to catch up in the final quarter, but Japan held on to win the game.
After the game, Japan’s coach, Corey Gaines, was very happy with his team’s performance. He said that practicing before the tournament really helped the young players like Tanaka shine.
China’s coach, Gong Luming, said they’ll learn from this loss and keep working hard. Star player Han Xu hopes to play in overseas leagues again someday to get even better!
What’s next? Japan will play against Australia in the big final game to see who becomes the champion! Meanwhile, China will face South Korea in another match.
Isn’t it exciting to see young athletes achieving great things? Maybe one day, you could be on the court too! 🏀✨
Reference(s):
Japan shock titleholders China to reach FIBA Women's Asia Cup final
cgtn.com
