China's women's basketball team faced their old rival Japan in the round of 16 of the 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup on Wednesday in Tenerife, Spain.
The top performers were China's Huang Sijing and Japan's Nako Motonashi.
China's Huang Sijing and Japan's Nako Motonashi rank top performers during the qualifying to FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup quarterfinal match. /Screenshot from FIBA
China kicked off the match with a three-point jump shot by Li Meng, as a result her squad had a 3-0 win over Japan. Then Nako Motohashi contributed two consecutive free throws to earn Japan 3-2. Han Xu of China only managed to make her first free throws at the remaining time of 32 seconds, but missed her second throw, thus, making it 19-25 in Japan's favor in the first quarter match.
In the second quarter, Manami Fujioka of Japan succeeded to make two free throws and raised the score 19-27. Han Xu contributed a two-point shot and then had a break with the substitute of Li Yueru. Huang Sijing made a three-point shot from the center to raise the score to 27-29. A two-point jump shot by Shao Ting of China made the score 31-31. Li Meng with her three-point jump shot managed to end the second quarter 46-44 in China's favor.
Li Yuan (L) of China competes during the match. /Xinhua Photo
China had a format adjustment during the court exchange in the third quarter. Li Yueru had an offensive rebound and Li Meng used her left-handed layup to block Maki Takada. After missing a two-point and a three-point throw, Wang Siyu had a defensive rebound, but later the umpire called it as a personal foul. Yang Liwei made a three-point jump shot to conclude the third quarter with the score 67-57 in China's favor.
In the last quarter, the competition heat up as Evelyn Mawuli made a layup to earn Japan the first two points in the fourth quarter. Due to two fouls by Japan's players, China's Wang Siyu was awarded two free throws and she made them, then Huang Sijing contributed another two throws and Japan's Nako Motonashi with her layup wrapped up the match during which China had an 87-81 win over Japan.
Players of China celebrate after their 87-81 win over Japan after round 16 of 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Tenerife, Spain, September 26. /Xinhua Photo
The two teams have been rivals since China thrashed Japan 82-65 during the 1994 World Championship for Women and won again with a score of 94-43 in the 1998 championships. The championship is the old name for the tournament, as FIBA changed the name to "World Cup" this year, to align it with that of the corresponding men's competition.
The two Asian powerhouses have confronted each other several times at multiple competitions, such as the Asian Games, Asian basketball championships, and Asian Cup.
China will meet Australia in the quarterfinals on September 28.
(Cover credit to Zhang Xuecheng)