Japan beat India in FIBA Women's Asia Cup opener

The Young Cagers suffered a crushing loss by a huge margin.

The Indian women's national basketball team opened their 2021 FIBA Women's Asia Cup campaign with a heavy 46-136 loss against Japan. It was always going to be an uphill task for the Indian girls in Group A against the Tokyo Olympics silver medalists.

India took the lead by opening the scoring in the match, but once Japan jumped ahead the outcome of the match was inevitable. Sathiya Senthil Kumar gave India a two-point lead right at the start. However, the Japanese team made a comeback to take an unassailable 41-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Japan slightly took the foot off the pedal in the second quarter, but still maintained a healthy advantage in the Asia Cup match. The reigning Asian champions were quick in transition and exploited the open spaces ruthlessly. India tried their best but could not put up a fight against their much superior opponents. The scoreline read 66-25 in favour of Japan at the halfway point of the match.

The third quarter saw Japan reassert their scoring dominance, reaching the three-figure mark. By this point, the Indian team were all over the place and lacked any ideas going forward. Zoran Visic's side finally heard the final buzzer, with the scoreline reading 136-46 after a tough lesson handed out to them at the Prince Hamza Hall in Amman.

For the Young Cagers, Pushpa Senthil Kumar was the top scorer of the Asia Cup match with 11 points. On the other hand, it was a collective effort from the Japanese team with Kiho Miyashita emerging as their highest scorer with 27 points. Saori Miyazaki provided an impressive 12 assists, whereas Indian skipper Shireen Vijay Limaye recorded four.

Tough tests ahead

Overall, this is India's sixth successive defeat against the reigning Asian champions. As for Japan, they are aiming to win their fifth consecutive Asia Cup crown to further underline their supremacy in the region. The Indians will have to quickly erase the memory of the match. However, it doesn't get any easier for them.

Their next match of the Asia Cup 2021 will be against record Asian champions South Korea. This will be followed by their final Group A encounter against New Zealand in Jordan. For the first time ever, the continental women's basketball showpiece is being held in West Asia. India is clearly the underdogs in a difficult Group A. They will have to be at their very best to stand any chance in their upcoming matches.

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