China and Japan continued their dominant ways to stay unbeaten in Group B of the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup 2026-Division A competitions at the Karisma Arena last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The competition’s only 16-time champions China blasted Chinese Taipei, 95-46, before their East Asian rivals totally outclassed host nation Malaysia through a 136-29 obliteration to cap off Day 2 of the tourney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both teams have improved to 2-0 following their lopsided wins ahead of their clash today, making it a battle for the top spot in the pool and an outright Semi-Finals berth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sun Ruiyang bannered Team Dragon’s balanced attack with 18 points. Sun Hanyun notched a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds plus 2 steals and 1 block, while Hu Ruiyan supplied 13 points and 6 assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Li Yuanshan and Peng Yunshu added 9 points apiece for the Chinese, as all 12 players of Coach Nan Chen contributed at least 1 point in the wire-to-wire victory, in which they led by as many as 50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan also received plenty of help in subduing Team Harimau, with Marin Koike starring with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Moe Sakara backed her up with 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists off the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lead playmaker Miya Takeuchi delivered 17 points, on top 8 of the team’s 34 steals. Rio Matsumoto tallied a 13-6-4 stat line together with 6 steals, while Mio Yamamoto and Yuuka Mizubayashi chipped in 12 points each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today’s duel between the former tournament titlists will mark their 18th meeting in the U18 Women’s Asia Cup, per available record, with Team China coming in with the head-to-head advantage with a 13-4 record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last time that the Japanese won in this rivalry was in 2022, a 76-59 rout during the Group Phase before China took their next two meetings, the most recent a 97-81 result during the 2024 games in Shenzhen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia and Korea remained unbeaten ahead of their rematch in Division A after dispatching their respective foes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reigning 2-time champions beat New Zealand once again by way of a 99-34 waylaying before the 7-time titlists broke away early to eventually keep the Philippines in search of a breakthrough, 86-70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both teams are now carrying identical 2-0 records, making their meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, October 6, a crucial bout as the winner will clinch the no. 1 seed in Group A – and directly advance to the Semi-Finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lim Yeonseo starred once more by firing 30 points to lead the Koreans past Gilas Youth, marking the second straight game that she dropped a 30-piece after tallying 31 versus the Junior Tall Ferns yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1.70 M (5’6″) guard scored 11 in the second chapter alone, nearly matching their foes’ output by her lonesome as she led their 30-15 surge to turn a one-point lead to a 38-42 advantage at the half to start the rout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee Sohee was also instrumental in the win with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Cho Heewon chipped in 13 points for Team Korea, who still won despite being dominated on the boards by the Philippines, 58-33.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rhiane Perez led Gilas Youth with 21 points in the loss, which dropped their card to 0-2. Ruiza Olmos had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Tiffany Reyes made 11, while Grace Curley added 10 on top of 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gems leaned on another balanced attack to wallop New Zealand, with Madison Ryan leading the pack with 18 points. Eliza Shanahan had 15 while Isabel Smith, Jemyma Manyok, and Matilda Trout added at least 10 each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
None were able to hit double figures for the Junior Tall Ferns, who will next face the Philippines tomorrow as well in a battle between teams hoping to barge into the win column as both sides are currently 0-2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China and Japan continued their dominant ways to stay unbeaten in Group B of the FIBA U18 Women’s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-16366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-basketball"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t