The Asian Championship was held for the first time in 1970 in Seoul, the capital of Korea. Korean women won the tournament seven times (1970, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1990, 1992). Japan was the best in 2008, but the other finals ended with Chinese juniors winning.
Australia made their debut in the 2018 finals held in the Indian city of Bangalore and finished third. Four years later, the Australian women ascended the throne there, defeating China 81:55 in the decisive game. This year’s tournament in Shenzhen also featured the final between Australia and China.
The 220-centimeter-tall Zhang Ziyu (according to her own words – 223 centimeters without shoes) made her debut in the Chinese ranks. The center averaged 35.0 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 22 minutes in five games.
In the final, Zhang scored 42 points in 26:38 minutes (2p 18/36, 1p 6/12), but her teammates managed to collect 37 points. Australian leader Saffron Sheils responded with 31 points, together with her colleagues, ending China’s four-game winning streak – 96:79 (22:19, 27:23, 19:21, 28:16).
Zhang Ziyu earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. In the symbolic five of the tournament, she was joined by compatriot Xu Palin, Japanese Kokoro Tanaka, as well as Australians Lara Somfai (192cm) and Safron Shiels (188cm). The latter became a two-time Asian champion.
Australia, China, Japan and Korea qualified for the U19 World Cup in the Czech Republic next summer.
2024-06-30 19:03:00
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