SEREMBAN (Malaysia) - Indonesia's grassroots efforts have borne fruit.
The young Timnas on Wednesday achieved a breakthrough of sorts after reaching the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U16 Women's Asia Cup 2025-Division B competitions following a sound beatdown of Uzbekistan.
Never has the program reached the said stage of the biennial tournament until now, leaving head coach Marlina Herawan vindicated as it serves as a testament to the work they've put in over the last few years.
"We're glad that the grassroots [efforts] have been doing very well so far," she said moments after their 77-52 victory over the unit from Central Asia in the Qualification to Semi-Finals at the Karisma Arena.
Talent identification and, of course, honing the chosen players into working as a unit were among the things which Team Indonesia focused on after finishing seventh during the 2022 games in Amman, Jordan.
In case you've been wondering, the ongoing tournament actually marks the country's return to the U16 Women's Asia Cup as they passed on competing in 2023, which saw their SEABA rivals, the Philippines, get promoted.
Definitely, they want to experience that kind of success in this comeback of theirs.
"We're glad to be back in this FIBA event after being absent. It is a great opportunity to showcase the Indonesian women's basketball talent," offered Herawan, herself a former national team stalwart.
But the present team isn't really looking that far for inspiration to fuel their own journey.
"They are inspired by our senior team that is in Division A," said the 42-year-old, referring to the Indonesia women's team that competed in Division A of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup just last July.
"And so, the U16 girls also want to make it, and make new history," she added.
Indonesia may just be able to emulate their seniors with how they've been playing in this city thus far. After losing to Hong Kong, China, the crew is now in the midst of a three-game winning streak entering the final four.
That began with an 83-57 win over Tonga, before following it up with a 66-44 rout of Malaysia to secure the second spot in Group B with a 2-1 record. Then came that mauling of Team Uzbekistan.
"Losing to Hong Kong was definitely a wake-up call for us," said Herawan, reflecting on that narrow 74-71 defeat. "So, we boosted up the awareness and the toughness till the last minute of the game each day."
They've indeed shown quite the progress from that Opening Day setback but that would surely be put to the test come the Semi-Finals, on Thursday where they will be squaring up against the unbeaten India.
All of Indonesia are aware of how tough it would be to take on a team that's been unscathed - not to mention hungry as it's aching to go back to Division A - but the squad is ready for the challenge ahead.
"India is definitely a contender and a powerhouse so far. But we will try our best to play as a team and collectively against them. It will be an interesting match," Herawan said. "It will not be easy, but we're gonna keep going."
FIBA