Korean Women's Basketball Survives World Cup Group Stage DramaticallyPark Ji-soo and Kang Yi-seul perform well inside and outside
Aug 23, 2024
|
The Korean women's basketball team, led by head coach Park Soo-ho, won 87-63 against Mali in the third Group A match of the preliminary round of the '2026 FIBA World Cup' held in Mexico City, Mexico on the 23rd (Korea time).
With this, South Korea, which won one game after two consecutive losses, finished second in the group and succeeded in the semifinals. South Korea (13th), which has the highest FIBA ranking in Group A, suffered an unexpected defeat in the previous matches against Venezuela (36th) and the Czech Republic (23rd), and seemed to be virtually going through the semifinals.
However, South Korea beat Mali (20th) by 24 points, and the Czech Republic also beat Venezuela, beating Mali and Venezuela in goal difference to become the second place in the group.
South Korea turned the tables 18-16 at the end of the first quarter thanks to Kang Yi-seul's back-to-back three-pointers. In the second quarter, Park Ji-soo and Lee So-hee's scoring shots added to the lead (40-35) in the first half.
|
|
Kang Yi-seul "It took a long time to adjust to Mexico's high elevation, but now it is unlikely to affect the rest of the game"I think what I've been practicing in Korea, such as transitions and fastballs, came out well."
Manager Park Soo-ho said "The winning factor was that he only gave up one more rebound against Mali, which has strong rebounds. I'm satisfied because the pattern play that I prepared came out well."
South Korea will play either Montenegro or Mexico in the semifinals on the 24th. In this competition, in which eight teams compete in groups A and B, only the final winning team will receive a direct ticket to the final qualifying round for the World Cup. The rest of the team must compete again in continental competitions such as the FIBA Asia Cup to qualify for the finals.
cms@sportschosun.com
