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US players celebrate winning the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup after the gold medal match against China. Photo: EPA-EFE

FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022: dominant US defeat China to win gold medal

  • The Americans take the gold medal match 83-61, repeating their victory over the Chinese earlier in the tournament
  • China still claim their first medal in the women’s World Cup since 1994, having edged hosts Australia in a dramatic semi-final

Dreams of gold were thwarted for China’s women’s basketball team as they were beaten convincingly by the United States in the final of the FIBA World Cup in Sydney.

An 83-61 victory for Team USA on Saturday sealed their fourth world title in a row and 11th in total.

The silver medals that the Chinese were left with still represented their country’s best finish in the global showpiece in 28 years. Not since 1994 – in a tournament held, like this one, in Australia – had they won a medal of any colour.

Coach Zheng Wei’s team were hoping to upset the odds and go one place better, having been only 14 points adrift of the all-conquering Americans in their meeting earlier in the competition.

China’s Wang Siyu tries to block Kelsey Plum of the US. Photo: AFP

In the event, their opponents were in front all the way in front of a sell-out crowd of almost 16,000 at the Sydney Superdome. They held an 18-13 lead after the first quarter and had the better of the second by 25-20 to reach half-time 43-33 ahead.

The Americans pulled away in the third quarter, which went their way by a more comfortable 25-14 margin, to close in on victory with a clear 68-47 advantage.

China rallied in the final quarter, which went only 15-14 in the US’ favour, but the destination of the gold medals was by then no longer in doubt.

A’Ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray starred for the champions, with Wilson – who was named most valuable player – contributing 19 points and five rebounds, and Gray 10 points and eight assists.

Li Yueru put in her best performance of the tournament for China as she notched 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Influential guard Li Meng was again missing after sitting out the previous evening’s semi-final against Australia, reportedly because of fatigue.

In her absence, her teammates had knocked out the hosts in a dramatic match decided in the final seconds, while the US had reached their sixth gold medal match in seven editions by beating Canada 83-43.

China’s Wu Tongtong shoots during Saturday’s final at the Sydney Superdome. Photo: AFP

The Chinese had gone into the final as the team who had pushed the US the closest previously in the tournament, and the statistics tell the story of their progress even if they never looked like preventing the Americans getting their hands on the gold.

China were the second best, behind Team USA, in terms of points scored, field-goal shooting, three-point shooting, assists and efficiency.

Their centre Han Xu was propelled into the tournament’s All-Star Five alongside Wilson and her US teammate Breanna Stewart, Australia’s Steph Talbot and Bridget Carleton of Canada.

Zheng was named best coach, while Li Yueru’s performance on Saturday earned the 23-year-old a place in the All-Second Team, as she finished with 10.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

It boded well for the Paris Olympics in 2024, according to Zheng.

“For us, [silver] was a really good result, and we will keep moving forward and improving and we are looking forward to Paris,” she said.

“We have learned a lot, but there is still a gap between us and our opponents. But we have gained a lot of experience and improved a lot mentally.”

Earlier on Saturday, Australia defeated Canada 95-65 to win the bronze medal, with Lauren Jackson ending her career on a high by contributing 30 points.

Jackson’s 43rd match in the competition also equalled the record for World Cup appearances, bringing her level with Janeth Dos Santos Arcain of Brazil.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

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