After 28 years, the Chinese women's basketball team has finally returned to the World Cup (formerly the World Championship) Final Four.
On the afternoon of the 29th, in the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the French women's basketball team 85-71 and broke into the final four of this World Cup. This is the best result that the Chinese women's basketball team has achieved in the World Cup since the 1994 Women's Basketball World Championship (the predecessor of the World Cup).
Coincidentally, the World Championships 28 years ago were also held in Australia.
Li Yueru fell to the ground and scrambled.
In this game, Li Mengduo scored 23 points, Huang Sijing had 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Yang Liwei had 11 points and 4 assists, Han Xu had 13 points and 9 rebounds, and Li Yuan had 10 points and 7 assists.
After winning this game, the Chinese women's basketball team will face the winner of the host Australian team vs Belgium team in the semi-finals, and if they win one more game, the Chinese women's basketball team will at least equal their best results in the world series.
Chinese women's basketball team leader Yao Ming watched the game from the sidelines. Image source: FIBA @FIBA
4 years later, revenge France
The Chinese women's basketball team and the French women's basketball team can be regarded as an old rival on the world stage.
Far from it, in the first women's basketball World Cup in 2018, the Chinese women's basketball team met the French women's basketball team in the fifth or sixth qualification.
At that time, the Chinese team still had veteran Shao Ting in the team, but the young Han Xu and Li Meng were already important players in the team.
In that game, the Chinese women's basketball team first led the French women's basketball team, but in the third quarter, the French women's basketball team reversed the situation and finally defeated the Chinese women's basketball team.
Chinese women's basketball coach Zheng Wei.
In this year's international arena, the Chinese women's basketball team has twice met the French women's basketball team, and the two sides have won and lost.
In the third game of the World Cup qualifiers on February 14, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated France 103-70, and in that game, Huang Sijing alone won 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Then in August this year, in the first game of European training, the Chinese women's basketball team lost to the French women's basketball team 52-58, but in that game, Li Yueru and Han Xu did not participate with the team.
Li Yueru hit hard under the basket.
In the group stage of this World Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team won 4 wins and 1 loss, and advanced to the knockout round with the second place in the group, and in the latest power list, the Chinese women's basketball team has surpassed Australia and ranked 2nd among all teams; The French women's basketball team is 3-2 to advance to the knockout rounds, ranking only 7th in the latest power rankings.
At the beginning of the game, the French women's basketball team took the lead in taking the initiative. France's No. 15 core player, Gabriel, shot inside and out, and created several fouls by the Chinese team, taking the lead on the field at one point.
However, just when the French team tried to open the point difference with a wave of flow, the core of the team, Li Meng, stepped forward.
The Chinese women's basketball team has shown unity. Image source: FIBA @FIBA
She first helped the Chinese women's basketball team to overtake the score through three points from the outside, and then helped Li Yueru score easily on the inside with a high-hanging pass.
Later, when the French team and the Chinese team began to attack, Li Meng hit two more three-pointers, which once helped the Chinese women's basketball team to pull the score apart. In the first quarter alone, Li Meng scored 12 points.
However, in the last two minutes of the first quarter, the French women's basketball team took advantage of the short slack of the Chinese team to approach the score. In the final attack, France's No. 28 player Touré hit a three-pointer to freeze the first quarter at 25-25.
Han Xu and his opponent scrambled.
In the big battle, the women's basketball team has become more and more stable in adversity
In fact, in the final game of the group stage against the Belgian women's basketball team, the Chinese women's basketball team also fell behind for a while, and it was not until the last moment of the first quarter that the Chinese women's basketball team overtook the score.
At that time, after winning that game, Chinese women's basketball coach Zheng Wei said that the not easy victory helped the Chinese women's basketball team to have a boost before the knockout match.
'The first few games were a bit smoother, so the game for Belgium was an improvement for the team, especially when it was difficult, people were not impatient and discouraged, and they were always defending on their own terms, which helped the later games.
It was after experiencing the adversity against the Belgian women's basketball team, when encountering the French team in this game, when the first quarter encountered the stubborn resistance of the opponent, the Chinese women's basketball team not only maintained a stable mentality, but also made rapid adjustments on the field.
Huang Sijing (left) performed well in this game.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Chinese women's basketball team completed two steals, taking advantage of the mistakes of the French women's basketball team to regain the advantage on the court. Not only that, after the French coach requested a timeout, the rhythm of the Chinese women's basketball team was still not disrupted.
Huang Sijing's two three-pointers helped the Chinese women's basketball team stabilize its 5-point lead, and then Yang Liwei's three-point and Li Yuan's breakthrough helped the Chinese women's basketball team to open the point difference to double digits.
Judging from the situation of the game, this "Sino-French duel" has become a big battle between the two sides in a good state.
Li Yuan (right) in the game.
Needless to say, in this World Cup, their offensive ability ranks second among all teams, with a three-point shooting rate of 40.8%; However, in the previous group game, the French women's basketball team shot only 23.8% from three-point range, and its offensive ability only ranked ninth.
But in this game, the French women's basketball team shot a lot of three-point shots, and in the first half alone, they shot 4 of 7 from the outside. However, the Chinese women's basketball team has a more stable shooting percentage, and they are shooting 6 of 13 from outside the three-point line.
At the beginning of the second half, the two sides continued to hit three-pointers on the outside, but the French women's basketball team's shooting rate suddenly increased, once chasing the point difference to 1 point, but the Chinese women's basketball team stabilized its position, leading by 8 points into the last quarter.
In the fourth quarter of the game, although the Chinese women's basketball team made several mistakes in the protection of rebounds in the backcourt, its own attack was still sharp, and finally did not repeat the script that was reversed by the French women's basketball team in 2018, maintaining the advantage to the end.
Yang Liwei broke through to the basket.
Four years ago, it was the first time that the women's basketball world championship was changed to the women's basketball World Cup, and the Chinese women's basketball team lost to the French women's basketball team in that tournament and finally ranked sixth. Four years later, when it met the French women's basketball team again, the Chinese women's basketball team became the winning party.
This breakthrough also helped the Chinese women's basketball team return to the top four of the World Cup after 28 years. In the semi-finals, they are likely to meet the host Australian women's basketball team.
That will be a bigger test, but the victory just won will become a source of confidence for the Chinese women's basketball team and help them show the spirit of "fearless Jinlan".