FIBA Asia - Weekend of reckoning for Asian women

INCHEON (FIBA Asia Championship for Women) - It all boils down now to two matches, in that quest for a berth in the Beijing Olympics. Korea, Chinese Taipei and Japan all go into the semifinals of the Championship fully aware of the extra pressure the Race to 2008 has added to the tournament itself.

Right through the tournament, all the coaches have said, repeated and reiterated that "it doesn't matter what we do in this match, but what matters is that we qualify" at the end of every day's proceedings. And all the teams were clear in their minds about how the result, against each other, in the preliminary round has no bearing when it comes to the knockout rounds.

"It's a different match," beamed Chinese Taipei coach Lin Hung Ling-Yao ahead of her team's top-draw semifinal against the red-hot hosts Korea. "We beat them six months ago, and we lost to them in the prelims. So we are 1-all in the last one year. Anything can happen in the semifinals."

"I'm aware of it," said Korean coach Yoo Soo Jong. "I know they will come hard at us. In fact, I've been telling the girls all along 'don't take any team lightly.' Every team is only as good as its previous performance," he said.

China are the only team in the Championship without the pressure of Olympic qualification -having already qualified by virtue of their hosts status. But coach Su Fengwu attached no dwindle in the intensity. "That we qualified is long known information. What's new in that? But we're more interested in doing well when we host the Olympics," he said.

"We really don't want to repeat the mistakes we made against them (China lost to Japan in the prelims," the coach said.

"I hope they do," joked Japanese coach Tomohide Utsumi. "But the way they have improved with every match is really impressive. I think we have our work cut out in the semifinals," he said.

With so much at stake, it's only obvious the midnight oil will burn long in many rooms at the team hotel.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia