BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Shenzhen once again became the center of women's basketball last July as the sprawling Chinese city played host to the 31st edition of the always anticipated FIBA Women's Asia Cup.
The women's game has indeed grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years and the said contest was, without a doubt, another solid proof of that with all that it offered that made it one to remember.
From the birth of new stars to programs reaching unprecedented heights, we take a look at some of the most interesting stories that the 2025 Women's Asia Cup produced - much to us fans' delight, of course.
Event returns to China after a decade
Just the fact that the biennial tournament came back to China was worthy of a celebration per se. Before this year, the country last hosted the tilt in 2015 in Wuhan, which saw Japan win the second title of a rare 'five-peat.'
Div B: Chinese Taipei regain status
A lot has changed from then on. One of which was the competition system as the Women's Asia Cup began with the promotion and relegation scheme in 2017 in Bengaluru, India and has since been in place.
While it's mainly designed for teams hoping to secure a ticket to Division A, the Division B competitions has also become an avenue for other programs to return to the top-flight division after being relegated.
Case in point: Chinese Taipei. The team finished last in 2023 and had to earn their status back this year, and that's precisely what they did as the East Asian side ruled the Division B by way of a mighty five-game sweep.
Lebanon prove they belong
As honorable as it is to be competing in Division A, there's actually no guarantee whatsoever that a team would be there forever. They have to prove that they belong, and that means avoiding finishing dead last.
In this year's edition, Lebanon found themselves in danger of returning to the second division - a predicament similar to 2023. But just like in the previous meet, they retained their status with another hard-earned win.
They accomplished as much by staving off Indonesia in the 7th-place game, 67-57, making sure that they'd be playing in Division A for the third consecutive time when the contest goes to the Philippines in 2027.
Philippines reach greater heights
Another team that wanted to remain in Division A was the Philippines but it wasn't their only goal this 2025. They wanted to book a spot in the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments.
With six tickets up for grabs, Gilas Women were confident of getting one, and they hit that target big thanks to a character-testing 73-70 victory over the Lebanese in the penultimate game of the Group Phase.
The victory also helped the Southeast Asian side stay in Division A for at least another cycle. They eventually ended up in sixth place, which is the country's best finish since gaining promotion 10 years ago.
For sure, they'd be aiming for bigger things when the Philippines host the 2027 Women's Asia Cup.
Japan's vengeful comeback
Japan waited two years to exact revenge against a long-time rival in China and that's why it couldn't get any sweeter for them when they did just that during the Semi-Finals - and in front of the Chinese crowd.
For a quick refresher, the Japanese' reign as five-time champs ended at the hands of Team Dragon, 73-71, in the 2023 Final in Sydney, Australia, ending the latter's championship drought that lasted for 12 years.
As fate would have it, the two would cross paths in the final four two years later, and Team Japan would go on to put an end to the rule that began against them by way of a 90-81 victory to return to the Big Dance.
Kokoro Tanaka: Future star
Starring in that vengeful triumph was Kokoro Tanaka, who fired 21 of her 27 points in just the opening period to help set the tone for the victory in a performance that served as a microcosm of her tournament run.
Stellar was the spitfire guard for Japan all throughout and making it all the more impressive was the fact that it was her first foray in the senior level - she just wrapped up her youth career a year prior to that.
The 19-year-old would go on to finish as her team's top scorer with 14.8 points on a 48.4-percent clip from deep, and also collected 2.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.2 steals on her way to an All-Star Five citation.
Zhang Ziyu makes senior debut
The FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup 2024 became one of the most talked about youth events of that year mainly because of the amount of talent that could potentially become stars in the senior competitions.
Tanaka herself was among those but nobody became as viral as the towering Zhang Ziyu, who after rising domestically showed that she can do it on the big stage as well as part of Team China.
She became MVP of the tourney, so it was only a matter of time that she'd be called up for the Chinese women's team. That happened the following year as she was named to their Women's Asia Cup roster.
And there, the 2.20 M (7'3") center would go on to show how promising China women's hoops' future could be, posting averages of 14.8 points and 5.5 rebounds to help her side salvage a bronze-medal finish.
Opals champs, at last
Australia didn't get the ultimate prize at home two years ago as much as they would've wanted, but that only added to their hunger in conquering Shenzhen which they eventually did for a historic breakthrough.
After settling for a runner-up finish in their debut in 2017 and bronze medals in the next three editions that followed, the Opals finally snared the gold by outlasting Japan, 88-79, in a Final befitting of a title bout.
Eventual Tournament MVP Alex Fowler led the way with 15 points and 6 rebounds but the efforts of Alex Wilson and Stephanie Reid especially in the endgame helped the crew ward off the Japanese' comeback bid.
They'd go on to complete a five-game sweep of the tournament and the Aussies are surely looking to replicate as much in the 2027 Women's Asia Cup. Will this be a dynasty in the making? That we have to find out.
FIBA