Shame before snow! The Chinese women's basketball team will not be easy to end Japan's five-game winning streak, and the absence of the fourth will return to the top of Asia

After a 48-minute battle, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the Japanese women's basketball team 73-71 in the final of the 2023 Asian Cup, ending a six-game losing streak against their opponents in the Asian Cup and regaining the top of the Asian Cup. At this moment, the Chinese women's basketball team has been waiting for 12 years. You know, before the final, we lost Yang Liwei, and Li Yueru, Huang Sijing, Wu Tongtong missed this tournament due to injury, and it was not easy to win the championship in the end, but now the women's basketball team has a different temperament after winning the World Cup runner-up last year, and the current women's basketball team is very strong.

The last time the Chinese women's basketball team beat Japan in the Asian Cup was in 2011. At that time, the Chinese women's basketball team led by Chen Nan and Miao Lijie defeated Japan 76-53 in the group stage, and defeated Japan again 76-62 in the semifinals. In the end, the Chinese women's basketball team narrowly defeated the South Korean team in the final to win the Asian Cup, which is also the last time the Chinese women's basketball team won the Asian Cup.

Since this edition, the Chinese women's basketball team has not won the Asian Cup, and most of the time, the Japanese team is the opponent in front of the Chinese women's basketball team. From 2013 to 2021, the Chinese women's basketball team faced Japan a total of 6 times, losing all of them, and facing Japan in the Asian Cup 6 consecutive losses.

In 2013, the Chinese women's basketball team lost 55-62 to Japan in the final game of the group stage. In the 2015 Wuhan Asian Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team lost 56-57 to Japan in the group stage, but lost 50-85 in the final, creating the largest point difference in the history of the Chinese women's basketball team to lose to Japan in the history of the Asian Cup. When the Japanese women's basketball team rose, it was the loneliness of the decline in the strength of the Chinese women's basketball team.

In 2017, the Chinese women's basketball team began to replace the old and the new, Xu Limin replaced Mahe as the new head coach of the women's basketball team, and the Asian Cup became the first trip of the new Chinese women's basketball team. In the semifinals, the Chinese women's basketball team faced Japan, and with more than 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Chinese women's basketball team still had a nine-point lead. However, a substitution of the Chinese women's basketball team gave the Japanese team a chance, and the Japanese team took the opportunity to play 8-0 to chase only one point. This substitution also became a watershed moment in the game, and the Chinese women's basketball team gradually gave up the lead. In the first 23 seconds of the final game, the Chinese women's basketball team served on the sideline, and the offensive time was a full 24 seconds, but Li Meng chose to shoot a long three-point shot as soon as he received the ball, and this unwise choice ended in a three-point miss. The Chinese women's basketball team adopted foul tactics, and Japan missed two free throws to give the women's basketball team a chance, but Shi Xiufeng missed three points, and the Chinese women's basketball team lost to the Japanese team again.

In the 2019 and 2021 Asian Cups, the Chinese women's basketball team faced Japan in consecutive finals. However, in both tug-of-wars, the Chinese women's basketball team fell short, losing 68-71 and 73-78 to Japan.

Therefore, when facing the Japanese team in the Asian Cup again, the Chinese women's basketball team's desire for the championship and the desire to take revenge on the Japanese team can be imagined.

However, the difficulty of the Chinese women's basketball team to compete for the Asian Cup championship this time is better than in previous editions. This trip to Sydney, Li Yueru, Huang Sijing, the two main inside linemen were absent due to injury, and substitute Wu Tongtong was also unable to participate due to injury, which also had a great impact on the rotation of the Chinese women's basketball team, as reflected in the hard defeat of South Korea in the final game of the group stage and the elimination of Australia in the semifinals.

Before the final, the Chinese women's basketball team lost captain Yang Liwei. In the semi-final match against Australia, Yang Liwei was injured by his opponent in the final moments and had to miss the final. When the final began, the Chinese women's basketball team also trailed by 9 points at one point.

However, this did not affect the determination and confidence of the Chinese women's basketball team to win. In the second half, when Li Meng, Han Xu and Wang Siyu continued to attack the basket and attack the city for the Chinese women's basketball team, when the whole team desperately defended the three-point shot of the Japanese women's basketball team, and when the girls fought for valuable frontcourt rebounds again and again, the balance of victory also began to tilt towards the Chinese women's basketball team.

So, when the game was over, the Chinese women's basketball team regained the Asian Cup championship after 12 years, and the smile hung on everyone's face in the Chinese women's basketball team, this moment, we really waited too long. Looking at such a fearless Chinese women's basketball team, how can you not love them?