ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia)- Japan shrugged off a sluggish start, took charge of the proceedings in the second quarter and rolled on to a 83-72 win over Chinese Taipei in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup Quarter-Finals at the M Bank Arena on Friday.
Japan along with booking their journey to the FIBA U17 World Cup 2026 in Turkey now will take on three-time reigning champions Australia who outplayed Korea in an earlier Quarter-Final encounter in a repeat of the Final from three years ago in Qatar.
Having fallen back early on, Japan closed the opening period strong and then scored the first nine points of the second which put them in the driving seat. Chinese Taipei were not to be written off yet, but that surge helped Akatsuki Japan keep their noses ahead till the end.
Keiji Koshi led all scorers for the game with 31 points, the Concordia Lutheran School ward returning a staggering 9/11 in field attempts.
Jack Shiratani delivered his second successive double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds
Chang Cheng-Yeh had his best return of the competition to lead Chinese Taipei with 27 points
FIBA