Japan made a spectacular comeback against Venezuela, moving closer to a 2024 Olympic basketball spot
After the FIBA World Cup 2023 ended the group stage, 16 teams entered the second round with the goal of aiming for the championship and the trophy named after Dr. James Naismith.
The 16 eliminated teams will enter another battle, which is to find 7 spots to attend the Paris Olympics next summer. Prominent among these is Japan, one of three co-hosts of the 2023 Basketball World Cup finals.
After leaving the group stage with only 1 victory, Japan stepped down to the qualifying round 17-32 and entered Group O with Finland, Cape Verde and Venezuela.
According to the format of the FIBA World Cup, the teams in this round will not meet the opponents they faced in the group stage. Therefore, Japan will compete against Venezuela and Cape Verde respectively. Their goal is to win 2 matches to secure a ticket to Paris in the summer of 2024.
Things didn't start well for the team from the land of the rising sun when they were constantly leading in the first two innings.
A fifteen-minute break in the middle of the match did not help Yuta Watanabe and his teammates improve their situation. The South American team led by 9 points (62-53) after three rounds and at times increased the gap to 15 points.
But when entering the final round, Japan suddenly rose up strongly and incredibly. A 19-4 run brought the score from 60-70 in favor of Venezuela to 79-74 with the leading advantage belonging to the Japanese.
Yuki Kawamura, Makoto Hiejima, Yuta Watanabe and natural striker Joshua Hawkinson shined in this series of scores. The South American representative then got 3 more points from Jhornan Zamora, but this was also the last score they scored in the match.
Kawamura and his teammates continued to thrive, receiving energy from the packed stadium to end the match in Okinawa with a 7-0 run.
Thrower Makoto Hiejima led the team with 23 points, including 6 successful 3-pointers with great performance (6-7 3PT). Yuta Watanabe scored 21 points and 8 rebounds. "Conductor" Yuki Kawamura has a double-double with 19 points and 11 assists.
This victory gives Japan a second win at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, taking them to the top of the group of 7 Asian teams at the tournament and closer than ever to the only place to represent the continent. Olympics.
If they can overcome Cape Verde in the final qualifying match, Yuki Kawamura and his teammates will definitely participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
