Australia beats China to clinch FIBA Asian Women’s U-18 Championship title

Australia demonstrated its ruthlessness in defensive and offensive rebounds yet again to subdue China in a manner that few teams have been able to.

Published : Sep 11, 2022 21:20 IST , BENGALURU

Australian players celebrate with the trophy after clinching the FIBA U-18 Women’s Asian Championship at Sree Kanteerava stadium on September 11, 2022 in Bengaluru.
Australian players celebrate with the trophy after clinching the FIBA U-18 Women’s Asian Championship at Sree Kanteerava stadium on September 11, 2022 in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
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Australian players celebrate with the trophy after clinching the FIBA U-18 Women’s Asian Championship at Sree Kanteerava stadium on September 11, 2022 in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN

Australia exhibited a masterclass in planning and execution as it outclassed China 81-55 in the Division A final of the FIBA Asian women’s u-18 basketball championship at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.

Watched by a moderate crowd, Australia demonstrated its ruthlessness in defensive and offensive rebounds yet again to subdue China in a manner that few teams have been able to.

There was hardly a fight put up by China as Australia led comfortably in all the quarters.

Centre Isla Juffermans, guard Isobel Borlase, forward Nyadiew Puoch and point guard Dallas Loughridge were outstanding in the tournament, and in the summit clash, they did their roles to perfection.

The height factor came into play as China could hardly penetrate the Oz defence. China’s key players, forward Wenxia Li and shooting guard Jing Wang couldn't do much in a defence largely manned by centre Isla Juffermans. China introduced its tallest player, Jiyang Ge (6’7”) in the second quarter in a bid to stop Australia from scoring, but baskets continued to come at a regular pace.

Juffermans was the top-scorer (26) for Australia and emerged its most valuable player. She was very solid in offensive and defensive rebounds.

Guard Dallas Loughridge proved to be equally valuable as Juffermans. She scored 17 points.

When the scoring rate slowed down, Loughridge produced baskets with searing lay-ups and some wonderful assists (8). “Our rebound count (56) was excellent today. As the top seed in the tournament, we were under pressure, but we delivered,” said Australia's head coach David Herbert.

Earlier, Japan finished third, defeating Chinese Taipei 64-53 in the playoff.

Malaysia qualified for Division-A with a 64-53 win over Mongolia in the Division-B final.

The results:
Division-A: final: Australia 81 (Sophie Burrows 11, Dallas Loughridge 17, Nyadiew Puoch 14, Isla Juffermans 26) bt China 55 (Jing Wang 16).; third-fourth place play-off: Japan 77 (Chinami Yokoyama 16, Mnami Yabu 12, Nanami Owaki 10) bt Chinese Taipei 45 (Hsing Em Uamg 10, Yu Wen Hsiao 12).
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