China ease past Australia to reach FIBA Women’s Asia Cup semi-finals

China notched a third straight victory in the group stage of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Amman, Jordan on Wednesday as they eased into the semi-finals of the tournament.

Favourites to take the title in the Middle East, China had already thrashed Philippines and Taiwan in their group campaign, but were expected to face a decidedly trickier test against the Opals, as the Australian national team are known.

In the event, the well-fancied Chinese outfit were far too strong for their overmatched opponents, despite Australia being Asia’s top-ranked side.

While it was a closely-fought game for the most of the first half, China – led by the irrepressible Huang Sijing – stormed clear in the second half and were good value for their 82-64 victory.

Huang, who grabbed 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, was ably supported by towering centre Han Xu who chipped in with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

It was Australia’s Sami Whitcomb who top-scored, however, posting 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but even her fine effort could do little to stymie China’s dominance. The result leaves Australia with a “qualification to the semi-finals” clash against regional rivals New Zealand for the chance to face defending champions Japan, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallists, in the semi-finals on Saturday.

China’s squad for the Asian Cup is mostly the same one that reached the quarter-finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this summer where they were stunned by Serbia.

China will now meet the winners of the clash between Korea and Taiwan in Saturday’s semi-final.

Elsewhere in Wednesday’s group A games, Japan beat South Korea 67-62 and New Zealand routed India 109-49. In group B, Taiwan stormed past Philippines 93-52.

The tournament, which was originally set to be held in India before moving to Jordan over Covid-19 concerns, acts as a qualifier for next year’s FIBA World Cup in Australia.