At 20 o'clock on September 27, the Hangzhou Asian Games women's basketball group stage Group A was played in the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, and the defending champion Chinese women's basketball team defeated Mongolia 101-46 in the first game, easily winning the opening of this event.
The Chinese women's basketball team beat Mongolia 101-46 according to IC photo
As the defending champion of the Asian Games, the Chinese women's basketball team has been steadily improving its performance since winning the championship in Jakarta in 2018. In last year's Women's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team made it all the way to the finals and finally won a valuable silver medal; At this year's Australian Women's Basketball Asian Cup, China defeated Japan, ending their opponent's consecutive championship record since 2011 and ending their nearly six-game losing streak against Japan.
Before the game, Shao Ting, former captain of the Chinese women's basketball team, said in an interview with Red Star News: "The Chinese women's basketball team is already a world-class team, so the Asian Games just need to do their own thing, and (achieving good results) is not a big problem." At the same time, Shao Ting also believes that in addition to the Japanese team, the biggest competitor of the Chinese women's basketball team in this tournament, the strength of other opponents is still a bit different. I hope that the girls will be more prepared for the difficulties of the Japanese team, because their presence changes are particularly many, and the coaching staff will also make some arrangements for the Chinese team, so we need to deal with this. ”
Asian Games "Three Countries Fight for Hegemony"?
The two top teams in Japan and South Korea aim to compete for the championship
In the history of the Asian Games, only China, South Korea and Japan have won gold medals in women's basketball. In an interview before the Asian Games, Chinese women's basketball coach Zheng Wei said that the team's biggest opponents in Hangzhou are still Japan and South Korea, which is very similar to the situation in this year's Asian Cup.
For Japan, winning the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics with home advantage is undoubtedly the team's best result in recent years, but the team did not show the most attention in the Asian Games, and they only won one bronze medal in the last four events. But at this year's Asian Cup, the Japanese women's basketball team created a huge threat to the Chinese team, and they once led the Chinese team in the final, but eventually lost the final by only 2 points. As many as seven members of the Japanese women's basketball team came to Hangzhou to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, and Maki Takada hopes to lead the team to break the "bronze curse". In the first round of Group B of the group stage that has been played today, the Japanese women's basketball team defeated Hong Kong 118-46.
The Chinese women's basketball team beat Mongolia 101-46 according to IC photo
South Korea is the second most successful team in the women's basketball arena at the Asian Games, winning medals (four golds) in 10 of the 11 Asian Games they have participated in, most recently at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. In 2018 in Jakarta, South Korea and North Korea formed a "inter-Korean team" to compete, and in the final defeat to China, only to finish second. Jiang Yise, as an outstanding striker who has averaged 17.2 points per game in the World Cup, is also striving to lead the team to the defending champion position of China! South Korea have also made their appearance at the Asian Games, beating Thailand 90-56 in the first round of Group C in the afternoon.
Compared with the Japanese and South Korean teams, the results of the Chinese women's basketball team are undoubtedly more eye-catching, with 6 golds, 4 silvers and 2 bronzes in the 12th Asian Games, and in the past 6 Asian Games, they have all reached the finals and won 4 gold medals. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the "Korean United Team" in the final, returning to the top podium after 8 years, and the goal of the girls in this event is undoubtedly to successfully defend their title.
The world's second Chinese team remained strong
But there are still hidden dangers after the return of the two trump cards
After winning the Asian Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team regrouped on July 16 and began preparations for the Hangzhou Asian Games. In order to be able to further grind the lineup in the final year of the Paris Olympic cycle, the team recruited newcomers such as Luo Xindi and Tang Yu to further enrich the talent reserve in the previous Asian Cup when facing injuries to major players such as Li Yueru and Huang Sijing.
However, the team knows that the Asian Games at home cannot afford to be lost, in order to defend their defending champion position, head coach Zheng Wei this time re-recruited the two aces who returned from injury, Li Yueru and Huang Sijing, plus the return of Yang Liwei, who recovered from injury after the Asian Cup, and the return of Han Xu and Li Meng, who played in the WNBA, the Chinese women's basketball team can be said to be the most complete of all teams.
The Chinese women's basketball team beat Mongolia 101-46 according to IC photo
Although it is difficult for other teams to cause too much trouble for the Chinese women's basketball team before meeting the Japanese team and the South Korean team, when the schedule enters the second half, the potential hidden dangers of the current women's basketball team will gradually appear. At present, there are only two positive center forwards in the team's lineup, Han Xu and Li Yueru, and Tang Yu in the Asian Cup lineup was not included in the squad at the last moment, if Han Xu and Li Yueru fell into foul trouble too early in the dialogue with strong opponents, the team's rotation on the inside is slightly weak; At the same time, the team is a little thin on the back line, and more uses the tactics of forward players occupying the number two position, and if it is limited by the opponent, the team will also face a relatively big test.
At present, the Chinese women's basketball team ranks second in the world, although the gap between the American team is still relatively obvious, but the team's successive successive successive World Cup and Asian Cup successive World Cup and Asian Cup have allowed the Chinese women's basketball team to accumulate full confidence and rich competition experience, and the team's strength is still the best in Asia. Since winning the championship with the team at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, players such as Li Meng, Han Xu, Wang Siyu, Li Yueru and others have gradually carried the banner of the team, and also allowed a group of "veterans" such as Shao Ting to perform more on other tracks.
Next, the Chinese women's basketball team will face two other opponents in the group stage on September 29 and October 1, respectively, Indonesia and India. On October 2 and 3, the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held, and on October 5, the bronze medal match and the final champion and runner-up will be matched.
Red Star News reporter Pei Han from Hangzhou
Edited by Ou Peng
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