BENGALURU (India) - The Semi-Finalists for the 2018 - China, Japan, Australia, and Korea - all won their opening match at the FIBA U18 Women’s Asian Championship 2022.

Japan started the day with what was the most exciting game of the day as Japan fended off Chinese Taipei, 90-77.

The score was close in the first quarter, but Japan put their depth on display in the later stages of the game to command the lead for good, going up by as much as 16 points.

All of Japan’s players got on the floor and put up points in this game, led by Yuzuyu Yasogawa who had 23 points on 9-13 shooting - highlighted by 5 three-pointers.

Nonetheless, the attention on this game was undoubtedly drawn towards Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao Yu Wen who delivered one of the most productive games ever in U18 Women’s Asian Championship history. The 17-year-old center dropped 39 points on only 19 shot attempts (missing just 3 shots) to go with 15 rebounds.

The win gives Japan a good start as they aim to finally get a U18 Women’s Asian Championship title, but Hsiao’s performance is something that opposing teams and fans will certainly be looking at in the next games.

China, Korea, and Australia all led their games from start to finish, asserting their dominance against their opponents.

China had no mercy for Indonesia in a 91-30 win, the second largest deficit of the day.

China's Hu Duoling

Five players scored in double-digits for China, led by Hu Duo Ling who had 19 points in 19 minutes of action. They locked Indonesia up on the defensive end, allowing their opponents to only 26.2 percent shooting from the field as well as only 1 point in the fourth quarter.

It was a relatively closer game between Korea and New Zealand, with Korea winning in the end 81-64.

Korea’s defense was also key as they logged 20 steals as a team (led by 7 from Lee DaHyun all by herself) and forcing New Zealand into 29 turnovers. Lee flirted with a triple-double with 12 points and 8 rebounds to go with her steals and Park JinYoung was not going to be outdone by her teammate as she recorded 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists.

Korea's Lee DaHyun

The last game of the day saw the Gems beat hosts India, 116-49.

All players got on the scoreboard for Australia with only two players playing over 20 minutes. Isobel Borlase led the team with 20 points. The team collected 27 assists in total in their big victory to start the competition.

Australia's Isobel Borlase

The games in the second day will be between:

Indonesia vs Japan - 11:15 (GMT +5.5)
New Zealand vs Australia - 13:30 (GMT +5.5)
Chinese Taipei vs China -15:45 (GMT +5.5)
India vs Korea - 18:00 (GMT +5.5)

Make sure to follow all of the action on the FIBA U18 Women's Asian Championship 2022 website as well as the on @fibawomensasiacup and @nextgenhoops on Instagram to keep updated with the stars of tomorrow in women's basketball in Asia!

FIBA