The Belgian Cats will face Japan in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The match will be contested on Wednesday at 10.20 AM Belgian time.
As the best second of the three groups, the Belgian Cats avoided a confrontation with Olympic and world champions America and Spain and meet host country Japan in the quarterfinals. The Cats have played against the Japanese twice before in an official match. At the World Cup in Tenerife, the number 10 in the world was lost after extra time. At the Olympic qualifying tournament in Ostend last year, they won. Two years ago, the Belgian Cats also completed an internship in Japan, without Kim Mestdagh and Emma Meesseman. Then they lost twice and won once.
“Personally, I would have preferred Serbia as an opponent in the quarterfinals. After the narrow loss last month at the European Championship in Valencia, Spain, we wanted revenge,” said national coach Philippe Mestdagh. “It is now against Japan. A team that we know well and that mainly shows a lot of three-pointers. With qualification for the quarter-finals, we have already achieved our first goal. The next step is playing for a medal. We have to go to the extreme on Wednesday and try to bring that challenge to a successful conclusion.”
If the Belgian Cats beat Japan, they will face the winner of Spain or France in the semifinals on Friday.
.
