At 19:00 on June 29, Beijing time, the 2024 FIBA U18 Women's Basketball Asian Cup semifinals match between China and South Korea officially started.
The Chinese team won all three games in the group stage, defeating Indonesia 109-50 in the first game; 90-68 victory over New Zealand in the second game; In the third game, they defeated Japan 98-81 and qualified for the top spot in the group! According to the rules, the Chinese team directly advanced to the semi-finals!
In the other group, Australia also won all three games (124-38 Malaysia in the first game; Second game 85-52 South Korea; The final game was 90-67 Chinese Taipei) directly advanced to the semifinals. The second and third places from the two groups will play each other in the semi-final play-offs.
After the competition, South Korea defeated New Zealand 86-66; Japan defeated Chinese Taipei 76-70 to advance to the semifinals. The two semi-final matchups are: China vs South Korea; Australia VS Japan.
At present, the semi-finals between Australia and Japan have ended, and after four quarters, Australia defeated Japan 68-63 and advanced to the finals. Here are the details of the semi-final between China and South Korea.
In the first game, the Chinese team scored 6 points in a row by Zhang Ziyu, the South Korean team couldn't play inside, and the outside three-point shot 2 hits, the two sides fought to a 6-6 draw, and the Chinese team immediately hit three points and colored, Zhang Ziyu once again exerted his power, scored continuously, and the Chinese team quickly pulled the score away. With two and a half minutes left in the first quarter, Zhang Ziyu went to rest, and the Chinese team led the South Korean team by 8 points 22-14.
After Zhang Ziyu got off the court, the South Korean team chased 5 points in a row, and the score came to 19-22, which is enough to see Zhang Ziyu's important role for the Chinese women's basketball team U18. In the two and a half minutes that Zhang Ziyu was off the court, the Chinese team scored only two points on free throws, while the South Korean team scored a total of seven points, and the Chinese team only led South Korea by three points at 24-21 to end the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Zhang Ziyu re-appeared, the South Korean team did not score a point in the past 4 minutes, and the offensive efficiency of the Chinese team was not very high, only beating the South Korean team 6-0, and then South Korea hit an empty 3-point shot from the outside, and the Chinese team led by only 6 points 30-24.
At the critical moment, it was still Zhang Ziyu who stood up and scored 8 points in a row, helping the Chinese team directly stretch the difference to 14 points, and the South Korean team was completely powerless to parry. With 3 minutes and 40 seconds left in the second quarter, Zhang Ziyu went to rest, the Chinese team also hit a three-point shot from the outside, and the South Korean team's shooting rate dropped sharply.
In the last minute of the second quarter, the head coach of the Chinese team made a more desperate substitution for the South Korean team, Zhang Ziyu appeared again, and Zhang Ziyu immediately scored 2 points after the debut. At the end of the second quarter, the Chinese team led the South Korean team by 21 points 45-24! The South Korean team only scored a pitiful 3 points in the second quarter, and the Chinese team bombarded the Korean team with a 23-3 climax in a single quarter!
As soon as the third quarter came up, Zhang Ziyu scored 8 points in a row by chopping melons and vegetables, and was replaced by the head coach for a break after only 3 and a half minutes on the field, after all, the Chinese team had a lead of nearly 30 points. In the second half of the third quarter, Zhang Ziyu never appeared, which was of great help to Zhang Ziyu's physical recovery. The Chinese team led the South Korean team by 26 points 61-35 and entered the fourth quarter of the final battle.
In the fourth quarter, Zhang Ziyu was still resting off the court, and the South Korean team played a 7-0 small climax of the Chinese team in 1 minute and 20 seconds, and the head coach of the Chinese team immediately replaced Zhang Ziyu on the stage, and Zhang Ziyu immediately contributed two wonderful assists to help the Chinese team stabilize the situation!
There are 3 minutes and 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the South Korean team made one of two free throws, the Chinese team led by 22 points 73-51, the South Korean team grabbed two rebounds in a row, and the Chinese team made mistakes on offense, when Zhang Ziyu was not on the court, the Chinese team was very difficult at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and the reason why the Chinese team was able to maintain a 20-point lead was completely created by Zhang Ziyu when he was on the court.
With 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Chinese team scored a basket and still maintained a 20-point lead, the game completely lost its suspense, and finally the fourth quarter ended, the Chinese team defeated the South Korean team 79-61 by 18 points, and will compete with the Australian team for the championship of this event!
Throughout the game, Zhang Ziyu slashed a big double-double of 34 points and 16 rebounds, helping the Chinese team easily defeat South Korea! At 19:00 on June 30, Beijing time, the Chinese team will compete with Australia for the championship of this competition, and this final will definitely be in the spotlight, looking forward to Zhang Ziyu once again showing his might on the stage of the final to help the Chinese women's basketball U18 win the championship at home!