They lost again! Collapsed in the final quarter, outscored 24-12, the Chinese women's basketball team was defeated by Japan and missed out on the bronze medal.

On September 28 Beijing time, the U16 Women's Basketball Asia Cup bronze medal match kicked off intensely. The Chinese women's team faced their longtime rivals, the Japanese women's team, battling for third place. After four quarters, China collapsed in the last quarter and lost 58-71 to Japan, suffering a 13-point defeat and missing the bronze medal. This second consecutive loss was shocking — despite their height advantage, they couldn't out-rebound Japan. Their court awareness was really lacking, which was extremely disappointing!

The Chinese women's basketball team failed to advance directly to the semifinals after losing to Japan in the group stage. However, they defeated the weaker Philippines team in the playoffs to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, they suffered a heavy defeat to the championship favorite, Australia, which was expected, so they had to compete for third place. Their opponent for the bronze medal match was their old rival, Japan. Across all age groups, Japan has been a consistent nemesis. This rematch was highly anticipated to see if China would be swept again or achieve revenge. Could the Chinese team rise to the occasion?

After the game started, the Japanese women's team quickly found their rhythm and went on a small scoring run to widen the gap. Their quick and agile style was fully on display. The Chinese team fought back with a counterattack to close the score, trailing by only two points after the first quarter. In the second quarter, China continued to score from multiple angles, gradually chipping away at the lead and even taking a 2-point advantage by halftime. However, after switching sides in the second half, both teams engaged in a fierce tug-of-war, with the score alternating. By the end of the third quarter, China trailed by just one point. But the final quarter saw a sudden shift — Japan's offense exploded, speeding up the pace and overwhelming China. Japan opened with an all-out scoring burst that stunned the Chinese team, rapidly increasing the point difference beyond double digits. China was completely unable to catch up and ultimately lost to Japan again, suffering a double defeat at their hands!

Losing to Japan in two consecutive games shows that we really can't beat this opponent. We are comprehensively behind this Japanese women's team. Having height alone isn't enough; our skills and speed are inferior to Japan’s. We lack the ability to break through, dribble, pass, and set screens effectively. The coach also lacks tactical plans. Meanwhile, Japan has solid fundamentals and strong basketball IQ, so our defeat is quite understandable!

Written by / Sports Novel