Kazakhstan dominated the erstwhile-unbeaten India, 60-36, on Saturday night at the Nimibutr Stadium to barge into the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup 2026-Division B Final against Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lebanon booked a return trip to the final following a 77–54 ouster of Indonesia in their semi-finals earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With little rest from their Qualification to Semi-Finals win over Thailand barely 24 hours ago, Kazakhstan, the champions from CABA, hardly showed any struggle in making sure that their hopes of reaching Division A stays alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They took the 15-10 lead behind a 9-2 run to finish the first, and then leaned on defense to limit their foes to a combined 17 points in the middle chapters while they produced 31 to break the game wide open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Lebanon seized control early although it wasn’t until the third canto where they’d pull away wide on the way to ensuring that their redemption tour continues – and their bid to gain promotion stays alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It could be recalled that the WABA representatives barged into the Final of the 2024 competitions in Shenzhen, China and were only a win away from reaching Division A, only to get blown out by the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But after two years of waiting, they’ve given themselves an opportunity to finish their story, which they could accomplish against either India or Kazakhstan in the finale set tomorrow, July 19, at 18:00 local time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Naturally, we’re looking forward to the Final with a lot of confidence, and we’re just absolutely gonna do our best,” offered head coach Paul Coughter. “Kind of cliche, but that’s all I can say within the bounds of humility.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in a totally different scene from their Group Phase encounter, the SABA representatives never found any solution, and the Kazakhs went on to cruise their way into the finale to set up a meeting versus Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The young Cedars from WABA were the first to reach the Final following a 77-54 rout of Indonesia earlier in the night, securing their second straight trip to the second division’s Last Dance for a chance to finish the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Final is set tonight, with the winner gaining the coveted promotion and will compete in the next edition of the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup in 2028 in, interestingly, Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kaussar Ybray finished with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 8 of the team’s 22 steals to lead Team Kazakhstan, who have now chalked up their 4th win in 5 games thus far in the ongoing tilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yerlan Shakhida backed her up with 15 points as the duo carried much of the offense for their crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s a total opposite of India’s production, as none from the crew managed to score in double figures in the heartbreaking defeat, with Mahek Sharma ending up as their top scorer with 9 points and 6 rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the loss, India and Indonesia – teams that actually fought one another in the Group Phase’s final day that saw the latter win via big margin, 79-46 – will figure in a rematch in the third-place game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lebanon leaned on another balanced attack to get the job done, with Gloria Kamar top-scoring in the victory with 18 points, 10 of which she produced in the first quarter alone to lead her team to a 25-15 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lara Al Nakib finished with 13 points and 8 assists. Joudy El Harake produced 13 points as well alongside 6 rebounds as the tandem presided over their third-quarter charge that put the game away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind the tried and tested combo, the Lebanese poured 26 points in the said period to turn an 8-point halftime lead to a big 64-47 advantage entering the last 10 minutes, effectively putting the game out of reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ayu Krisabella was the lone bright spot with 15 points for Indonesia, who will try to salvage a third-place finish against the losing team between India and Kazakhstan tomorrow as well, prior to the Final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Samoa secured 5th place after beating Thailand, 82-73, in the Classification 5-6 earlier. Rykkah Mareta-Manu led the way with 24 points and 9 rebounds while Tyra Lee-Hang added 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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