Facing the American women's basketball team, which is determined to win four consecutive championships, Chinese women's basketball team regretted not creating miracles, but the efforts of the girls have allowed them to write a brilliant history.
On October 1, Beijing time, the final of the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup was staged in Sydney . The Chinese women's basketball team lost to the US women's basketball team 61-83 and won the runner-up in this World Cup. The runner-up of
also tied the best results of the Chinese women's basketball team in the World Cup.
In this game, Li Yueru scored 19 points and 12 rebounds, Wu Tongtong 13 points, Han Xu 8 points and 6 rebounds, Wang Siyu 11 points and 3 assists.
Poster Design Zhu Bichen
Over the past years, the Chinese women's basketball team has also experienced ups and downs and downs, and has also been questioned and criticized. However, they have constantly polished their skills and trained hard, showing their desire to win and firm belief to surpass their opponents on the court.
The spiritual strength and willful quality of the Chinese women's basketball team are even more valuable than the runner-up of the World Cup.
Li Yueru performed well in this game.
Li Meng is absent, women's basketball team fights hard to defend and rebound
After defeating the World Cup host Australian women's basketball team in the semi-finals, the Chinese women's basketball team stood on the final stage of the World Cup for the second time in history.
For this Chinese women's basketball team, whose average age is less than 26 years old, it is a great spiritual encouragement to defeat the strong opponent and return to the finals.
Especially when the team's scoring core Li Meng was absent due to a high fever, other players of the Chinese women's basketball team stood up and shouldered the responsibilities of both offense and defense.
Chinese fans at the scene.
"If there is a player who can't play, more people need to stand up, and other players have achieved their best on the court. I am very happy to win this game." After the game, the head coach of the Chinese women's basketball team Zheng Wei also did not hesitate to praise him.
In her opinion, the team can make breakthroughs, one is because the coaching team communicates well with the players, and the other is because the players have played their best in both spiritual and technical and tactical aspects.
But even though the Chinese women's basketball team has reached a high point in momentum, coach Zheng Wei is still very cautious in the face of the "unique strength" American women's basketball team.
Chinese women's basketball head coach Zheng Wei.
"The US team has strong overall strength and very good personal abilities. We will cherish this opportunity very much and show our best mental outlook and technical and tactical style. I think as long as we do our best, nothing else matters."
Indeed, in this World Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team only lost one game before, which was to lose to the US women's basketball team. In that group match, the Chinese women's basketball team once beat their opponent by 10 points in the third quarter, but still lost to the US women's basketball team 63-77.
Looking at the international stage that has been around for nearly 30 years, the Chinese women's basketball team and the US women's basketball team played 7 times in the World Cup and Olympics, and the Chinese women's basketball team had no wins. The biggest difference was 47 points in the 2006 World Championships, and the smallest difference was 10 points in the 1983 World Championships earlier.
Leader Yao Ming watch the game on the sidelines.
However, in this final, the Chinese women's basketball team did not give up resistance easily. They even showed their desire to win on the field that they were not inferior to the American team.
Since the beginning of the game, the women's basketball girls have maintained their defensive intensity while their offensive ability is relatively unfavorable.
During the offensive and defensive transition in the first quarter, the Chinese women's basketball team completed steals many times. Wang Siyu even completed a counter-attack on the spot at halftime, almost completing a fast break score. The defensive enthusiasm of the whole team once made the US women's basketball team feel a little uncomfortable.
In the second half of the first quarter, the Chinese women's basketball team forced the US women's basketball team to have a 24-second violation through defense, and in the opponent's last sideline tactic, the Chinese women's basketball team once again forced the US team to serve through defense.
Huang Sijing actively defends.
is not afraid of the king, the Chinese women's basketball team fights to the end
However, the American women's basketball team is still the "unique" existence in the women's basketball world, and their only goal to go to the World Cup is to defend the title.In the previous seven games, the US women's basketball team not only won all the games, but also averaged 43 points.
After a brief adjustment, the US women's basketball team gradually adapted to the defensive intensity and offensive rhythm of the Chinese women's basketball team, and then gradually widened the score gap through the internal and external shots of Stewart and Aja Wilson. In the first half, the US team's lead once reached double digits.
Li Yueru attacked under the basket.
However, the Chinese women's basketball team has encountered such adversity more than once in this World Cup, and whenever difficulties arise, the Chinese women's basketball team can always stand up.
And in this game, Li Yueru was the first to stand out. She attacked the inside four times in the first quarter, and all of them succeeded. She took charge of 5 of the team's 13 points in a single quarter.
Then, Wang Siyu also stood up. She first broke through the inside and scored 2 points, and then hit a three-pointer in the second half of the first quarter.
Wu Tongtong (right) plays the role of "Shock Warrior".
arrived in the second quarter, and Wu Tongtong, who had performed well before, stood up. She first hit a three-pointer, narrowing the gap to 2 points, and then hit a continuous mid-range shot.
It is precisely because Wu Tongtong played the "Shock Warrior" that the Chinese women's basketball team was not taken away by their opponents in the second quarter like they did in the group stage.
In addition, Han Xu, who performed well in the semi-finals, also found a touch in the second quarter and hit a mid-range shot. Her defense also had a huge impact on the US team's breakthrough.
until the last moment of the first half, when the US team once again widened the gap to 13 points, and the Jin Weina , who was entrusted with heavy responsibilities since the semi-finals, shook the opponent away with experience and bravely hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer, freezing the gap between the half-time score at 10 points.
Chinese women's basketball fans on the scene.
At that moment, the Sydney final stadium was in full swing, and this was the home court of the Chinese team.
In fact, facing the "absolute king" of the Women's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team hopes to make more breakthroughs, no matter from players to coaches.
In the last few minutes of the first half, coach Zheng Wei sent out a "two tower" combination, hoping to create more space through Han Xu and Li Yueru.
Starting the second half, the defense intensity of both sides further improved. The Chinese women's basketball team once encountered a scoring drought and was scored 25-14 by the US team in a single quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Wu Tongtong was injured and could only be carried away by his teammates. At that moment, the audience was applauding for Wu Tongtong, including the members of the United States.
Wu Tongtong was injured and could only be held by her teammates. Screenshot
In the end, although the Chinese women's basketball team did not defeat the "four consecutive championships", their fighting spirit and mature tactical execution in the final arena have proved their growth in the past few years.
More importantly, this Chinese women's basketball team, whose average age is less than 26 years old, still has room for improvement - young core players, mature rotation lineup, tacit understanding between coaches and players, plus the perseverance of spiritual strength.
Return to the World Cup final after 28 years, tying the best record in history to win the runner-up. This will not be the end of these Chinese women's basketball girls, but a new starting point for them to lead to the Paris Olympics.
The future is right in front of the Chinese women's basketball team.
