India make it three wins on the trot

India produced a dominant performance to humble Iran 97-53 and top Group A to seal their semifinal berth in the Division B of the FIBA under-16 Women’s Asian Championship at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

Since there are only three teams in Group B, the Group A topper gets a bye to the last four.

Forward Vaishnavi Yadav stole the show for India, with 27 points, six rebounds and five assists. She had help from point guard Neha Karwa, who scored 15 points, provided seven assists. Center Riya Baliyan also added 10 points.

In Division A, Asian powerhouse Japan turned up the heat against China in their final group B tie, clinching a fighting 70-53 win to secure an easy route in the quarterfinals.

Japan will face Chinese Taipei on Thursday. China finished second in the group and have to get past South Korea next. 

Center Maya McArthur ruled the paint for Japan. She claimed 10 rebounds and scored six points. Misa Hayashi (12 points) and Sakura Noguchi (11) also made their presence felt.

For China, the tall centre Yutong Liu scored a game-high 20 points. She also grabbed 19 rebounds.

Australia dominant

Earlier, Australia continued their winning streak, beating South Korea 83-50, to top Group A. The Sapphires will take on Hong Kong in their last-eight fixture.

New Zealand continued their resurgence, notching up a close 71-66 win over Chinese Taipei.

The Kiwis grabbed second place in the group and will be up against Thailand, who beat Hong Kong 93-64 to finish third in Group A.

DH News Service

Results: Division A: Group A: Australia: 83 (Last-year Poa 12, Shyla Heal 12, G Amoore 12, Isabel Palmer 13) bt South Korea: 50 (Geumbi Na 23, Yeeun Heo 10);  Chinese Taipei: 66 (Hsuan-Yi Tseng 15, K Hsu 14, C Lin 12) lt to New Zealand: 71 (Charlisse Trinity Leger-Walker 30, Sharne Pupuke-Robati 17).

Group B: China: 53 (Yutong Liu 20, Ming Zheng 10) lt to Japan: 70 (Misa Hayashi 12, Sakura Noguchi 11, Aika Hirashita 10); Thailand: 93 (Nantanach Chumjinda 24, Yada Sriharaksa 17, Pimthicha Jantarwong 14) bt Hong Kong: 64 (Nga Wing Law 18, Wing Poon 13, Wing Chan 10)

Division B: Group A: Nepal: 48 (P Magar 20, R Shrestha 14)  lt to Sri Lanka: 68 (L Hamza 13, L  Hettiarachchi 12, Hiniduma Kapuge 12, Sri Wickramage Don 11); India: 97 (Vaishnavi Yadav 27, Neha Karwa 15, Elijabeth Ekka 10, Riya Baliyan 10) bt Iran: 53 (Maryam Shirazi 12, Ghazal Maleki 11, Puonik Arakilians 10)

Group B: Maldives: 10 lt to Kazakhstan: 114 (Dilbar Abbassova 18, Alexandra Komarova 15, Yuliya Marchenko 14, Ulbira Ussen 12, Shyryn Kulbekova 13).

Quarterfinal fixture: Division A: Australia vs Hong Kong; New Zealand vs Thailand; China vs South Korea; Japan vs Chinese Taipei.