SHENZHEN (China) - Speed reigned supreme over size this time as Japan dethroned China, 90-81, to complete the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2025 Final picture, Saturday night at the Shenzhen Sports Center.
Kokoro Tanaka set the tone by firing 21 of her 27 points in the first quarter alone, giving the traditional contenders enough confidence to thwart their bigger foes and silence the 8,000-plus home fans that filled the venue.
Yuki Miyazawa, Norika Konno, and Stephanie Mawuli all came through with timely hits to keep the opposition at bay during the fourth quarter, before the 19-year-old came alive again and helped apply the final touches.
Captain Maki Takada then came through with the dagger, hitting one from point-blank with 32.3 seconds left to play to settle the eventual scoreline - and complete their ouster of the erstwhile defending champions.
The win somehow exorcised the ghosts of 2023, where the Japanese' bid of bagging home the gold medal for a sixth consecutive time got spoiled by Team Dragon after bowing to a 73-71 decision in the finale in Sydney.
Furthermore, Japan's victory brought flashbacks of their title bout in 2015, where they also took down China in their own turf in Wuhan to win the second championship of an unprecedented 'five-peat' run.
Now, Coach Corey Gaines & Co. will turn their attention to the Final tomorrow, Sunday, July 20, against Australia, who earlier beat Korea to be the first to advance. The gold medal game is set at 19:30 local time.
"That was a game where the players followed the game plan," the veteran bench tactician offered. "We had a strategy going into the game, and they executed it. China countered, we changed to another game plan."
"And they really kept their heads during the game, and they executed what we talked about. That win is for the players," continued Gaines. "The players won that game. They really did their job."
Miyazawa finished with 18 points behind a 4-of-6 clip from deep, two of which she made in the final period, along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists to submit easily her best performance of the tournament by far.
Konno, meanwhile, added 14 points, spiked by three triples as she and Miyazawa knocked down crucial threes in the fourth to serve apt responses whenever the hosts tried to put together a comeback bid.
But then, the night belonged to the 19-year-old Tanaka, who after being denied by the defense during the middle quarters, scored the last four of a mini 6-0 run to inflate their lead to a decade, 88-78, with 2:59 remaining.
"Personally, I approached this game [thinking] that we are definitely gonna win," Tanaka said. "From the start, I came with that mentality. As a team, we just had to fight for all 40 minutes, even through the tough times."
Leading China in the heartbreaking defeat was Yang Shuyu, who finished with 19 points. Star center Han Xu registered 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Zhang Ziyu added 17 points and 9 rebounds.
Zhang actually helped her side take a 51-49 edge entering the halftime intermission, scoring eight straight points all by herself before Yang hit both of her charities for a 10-0 run to erase Japan's 49-41 lead.
Han even added to that lead by opening the third with a trifecta, 54-49, but they wouldn't be able to enjoy being ahead that long as Konno, Tanaka, and Miyazawa joined hands to put themselves up for good, 63-56.
Team China played catch-up since, never to experience being in the driver's seat anymore as they could only watch their reign as queens of the continent crumble at the hands of a long-time rival.
Still, China can take the bronze as they face Korea in the Third-Place Game tomorrow at 16:30 local time.
FIBA