China ends Japan’s long reign to win women’s basketball Asia Cup title
China rallied to claim its first women’s basketball Asia Cup title since 2012 as they beat five-time defending champion Japan 73-71 in an epic final on Sunday.
Trailing at halftime it appeared China may fall for a third consecutive time in a title game as reigning champions Japan scored the last 14 points of the first half to lead by nine points.
Led by player of the tournament center Xu Han, China seized the momentum early in the third quarter and took what proved a match-winning lead late in the game to end their 12-year wait for a gold medal in front of a large crowd in Sydney.
Xu finished with a match-defining 26 points and 10 rebounds to complete the feat of recording a double-double in every game of the tournament. Siyu Wang scored 17 points.
Maki Takada led Japan with 17 points and four rebounds, with Saki Hayashi scoring 12 points for Japan.
China’s title follows its silver medal at the women’s basketball World Cup, also held in Sydney, late last year.
Japan and China met in the 2019 and 2021 title games with the Japanese prevailing in both to claim their fourth and fifth titles.
Earlier Saturday, host nation Australia claimed its third consecutive bronze medal as they cruised past New Zealand 81-59 to repeat its result from Bengaluru, India in 2019 and Amman, Jordan in 2021.
Alice Kunek contributed a team high 19 points and Anneli Maley completed a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Tess Madgen scored 14 points with five rebounds and three steals for the Opals.
The eight-team regional tournament doubled as qualifying for next year’s Olympics, with the semifinalists — Japan, Australia, China and New Zealand — qualifying for Paris 2024.
China snap Japan run to win women’s Asia Cup title
Giant centre Han Xu sank 26 points as China stunned five-time defending champions Japan 73-71 Sunday to win their first women’s Asia Cup basketball title in more than a decade.
New York Liberty’s Han also made 10 rebounds and two assists at Sydney Olympic Park, while fellow superstar Li Meng poured in 17 points to hand world number two China its 12th crown and first since 2011.
The victory snapped Japan’s dominance in the tournament dating back to Bangkok in 2013 and ended the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist’s dream of making it six in a row.
No nation other than Japan, China or South Africa has won the Asia Cup since its inception in 1965.
Hosts Australia took bronze for the third consecutive tournament after crushing New Zealand 81-59.
“It feels unreal. We didn’t expect we could be champions before the tournament started,” said China coach Zheng Wei.
“At our training camp before the tournament we had some problems like injuries and not every player joining us at the start of the camp. But our team has got better and better.
“I’m very proud them.”
Weina Jin scored an early bucket for China but Japan quickly found their stride in an intense first quarter that ended level-pegging at 17-17.
With tournament MVP Han, who towers 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 metres), leading the way, China went on a 7-0 run in the second stanza to pull clear, but again a relentless Japan came roaring back.
With lightning-fast transition and aggressive defence, Japan went 18-2 to reach half-time 35-26 in front.
China lifted the tempo in the third stanza and edged a point clear, but Japan weathered the storm to take a 51-48 lead into the home stretch.
But in a nail-biting finish, the Chinese held their nerve to triumph in a game that went to the wire.
“We tried hard, all the players did well,” said Japan coach Toru Onzuka.
“We can learn from this (Chinese) team, they are a great team.”
All four semi-finalists in the eight-team competition secured a place at the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifying tournament.
生词记录
rally 召集，集合；恢复，复原，重新振作
claim 获得，赢得，取得；声称，宣称，断言，主张
title 冠军
defending champion 卫冕冠军
epic 史诗，史诗般的电影或书籍
trail 小路，小径
consecutive 连续的，连贯的，不间断的
tournament 锦标赛
center 在篮球比赛中指中锋
momentum 动量，冲量，冲力，推动力，势头
rebounds 篮板球
feat 功绩
double-double 两双
prevail 占优势，占上风，获胜；盛行，普遍存在
cruise 巡航，以平稳速度航行
steal 抢断
double up as th 也可当作，还能当作
qualify 具有资格，合格；达标，获得参赛资格
semifinalist 获得半决赛资格的选手和队伍
sink 沉没，陷入；使失败，使陷入麻烦，击球入洞
stun 使震惊，使惊讶；使昏迷，使失去知觉
crown 为···加冕；使圆满，使完美；王冠，皇冠
medallist 奖牌获得者
inception 开端，创始
stride 大步快走，大步，阔步，进展，进步
level-pegging 难分伯仲，不分胜负
tower 高耸，矗立
stanza 节
tempo 节奏
weather 经受住
the home straight 最后阶段
nail-biting 紧张刺激的，令人焦急的
go to the wire 竞争将持续到最后一刻
secure 设法得到，获得，争取到；使安全，保护，保卫
