Photo: Global Times
China successfully defended its title in women's basketball on Thursday, securing a thrilling 74-72 victory against arch-rival Japan at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou. The game captured the hearts of Chinese fans, igniting an online sensation as many praised the indomitable spirit displayed by the basketball players.
Team China, currently ranked second in the world, stormed ahead with a 26-16 lead after the first quarter. In a nail-biting finish, Japan managed to tie the game at 72-all. However, Wang Siyu's decisive layup in the final seconds secured China's seventh gold medal at the prestigious continental multi-sports event.
The victory sent waves across social media, with multiple hashtags related to China's triumph dominating the trending list on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter. The hashtag "Chinese women's basketball team is the champion" alone garnered more than 550 million views and about 100,000 comments as of Friday afternoon.
"The match between the Chinese women's basketball team and Japan was so thrilling! Wang Siyu's last-minute game-winner was truly explosive! Tonight, the victory song belongs to the Chinese women's basketball team!" a Weibo user wrote.
Another comment on Weibo echoed the sentiment, saying, "This is very moving, you can always be proud of the Chinese women's basketball team.
China's head coach, Zheng Wei, acknowledged the challenge of the rivalry with Japan, saying, "We know that the opponents are very tenacious, but we have made rigorous preparations and we are confident that we will win. The game was tough, but we managed to contain the opponents' strength, which is also the fundamental guarantee for our victory."
"While they usually manage to average 14 to 15 three-pointers, today we only let them (Japan) make seven of them," she added at the post-game press conference.
Zheng said that the team's "spirit and strength" were instrumental in securing the championship, given the liabilities due to injuries and the limited practice time for players who had competed overseas.
In a show of appreciation and encouragement, the Sichuan Yuanda Merlot Basketball Club officially announced rewards for three of its players, Li Meng, Wang Siyu and Han Xu, offering them a 68-square-meter apartment each.
China's success in women's basketball has been on an upward trajectory over the past two years, with the Asian Games gold medal adding to their achievements, including a runner-up finish at the FIBA Women's World Cup and the FIBA Women's Asia Cup title in previous events.
In the Asian Cup in July, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated Japan 73:71. In the Asian Games, the Chinese women's basketball team once again defeated Japan with a score of 74:72. Both times, it was in the championship finals, with just a two-point difference, and both times the Chinese team held the lead while Japan made a strong effort to catch up.
"In the coming period, it is very likely that there will be continued competition between the Chinese and Japanese women's basketball teams. Whichever side cannot maintain their quality and distinctive characteristics may fall behind. However, if either side innovates in their playing style, they may break this deadlock," Wang Dazhao, a Beijing-based sports commentator, told the Global Times on Friday.
According to Wang, the Chinese women's basketball team is the runner up of the World Cup, and they frequently face formidable opponents with tall and robust players. The Chinese women's basketball team focuses more on dealing with such opponents, and rarely focuses on small, fast, flexible and accurate teams like Japan. However, they must be able to adapt to different types of opponents and situations, to succeed at the highest level.
