“INSIDE AKATSUKI” is a video content that allows you to see the “real appearance” of the players of the Japan national basketball team recorded by the Japan national team. In this series, we will start a training camp for the Women’s World Cup and tell the back side of the Japan Women’s National Team who flew to Australia every day.
Following their defeat to Serbia and Canada, Japan faced a match against France that they could never lose in order to advance through the group phase.
Japan, who challenged with the same starting lineup as the match against Canada the day before, was behind by 11 points in the first quarter, but Saori Miyazaki and Aika Hirashita scored 12 points in a row, including 3-point shots, to tie the score at 20-20. In the second half, he showed his characteristic tenacity and fought a close battle, but he made a series of turnovers in the 4th quarter, greatly breaking his rhythm and losing 53-67.
Miyazaki, who scored a team-high 13 points, said, “I really wanted to win, but it’s frustrating to lose in this way.I thought everyone’s atmosphere was getting heavy after losing to Serbia. , Each player knows their role, so we had a meeting with the players and talked about going to the next game, so I think the atmosphere wasn’t bad.”
Head coach Toru Onzuka, who was present at the press conference, said, “The players used this experience as a source of frustration and various thoughts due to the series of defeats, and they showed their willingness to fight as a team. , They called out to each other and gathered their strength.
With a record of 1 win and 3 losses, Japan lost the possibility of advancing to the quarter-finals due to the results of the match in the same group, and was eliminated from the group qualifying rounds. With frustration in his heart, he faces the final match of the group phase against the host country, Australia.
