After 12 years, the Chinese women's basketball team has regained the top position in Asia. On July 2, in the 2023 Asian Women's Basketball Cup final held in Sydney, Australia, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the Japanese women's basketball team 73-71 to win the championship.

This is a victory to fulfill the long cherished wish. Since 2011, it has been more than ten years since the Chinese women's basketball team failed to win the Asian championship. During this period, the Japanese women's basketball team has achieved five consecutive championships. In the previous two Asian Cup matches, the Chinese women's basketball team was defeated by the Japanese team in the finals in a row, and experienced a "championship shortage" for 12 years. In the past 12 years, we have also had the experience of winning the Japanese team in the Asian Games and the World Cup. But even in the Asian Cup, we always missed a move and stopped at the same opponent many times. There is not only a gap in strength and playing methods, but also a lack of psychological adjustment. In the competitive arena, the difference is a thousand miles. Although it was only a narrow victory of 2 points in the score this time, from the spiritual level, it is of great significance to "pierce this layer of window paper".

This is also a golden victory. In this Asian Cup, the Chinese women's basketball team has played against New Zealand, South Korea, Australia and Japan. These four opponents, together with the Chinese team, just occupy the top five places in the Asian women's basketball rankings, of which Australia ranks third in the world, Japan ranks ninth in the world and has won the Asian Cup for five consecutive times; The South Korean team ranked 13th in the world. The victory of the Asian Cup was decided by China and South Korea in extra time. It can be said that China has won all the strongest teams in Asia. As the head coach Zheng Wei said, "We are getting better and better, and everyone's tacit understanding is getting higher and higher."

This is also a connecting victory. For the Asian Cup, the original goal of the Chinese team was to train the team and investigate new players, but the FIBA temporarily revised the rules to link the Asian Cup results with the 2024 Paris Olympic Games - only the top four of the Asian Cup can get the right to participate in the Olympic qualifying events. This not only disrupted the preparation plan of the Chinese team, but also raised the importance of the Asian Cup teams. Looking back on the whole match schedule, Han Xu, Wang Siyu, Li Meng and other major players played well, and Tang Yu and Luo Xinyui, two young players who played well in the domestic league, also got some training. The Chinese team won the championship with a total victory record, and laid the foundation for going straight to Paris a year later.

Looking back at the preparation process for the Asian Cup, the Chinese team urgently adjusted its training plan. At the same time, it encountered problems such as incomplete lineup, sudden injuries, low players' running in, and unsatisfactory warm-up results. The Chinese team finally overcame various difficulties and achieved satisfactory results.

No champion comes easy. In 2022, the Chinese women's basketball team equaled the best performance in history and won the second place in the World Cup. Zheng Wei said that the Chinese team still does not have the strength to be the top team in the world. If you want to become a truly strong team in the world, you must constantly summarize, find out problems and constantly improve yourself. "After thousands of mountains and rivers, we still need to cross mountains and rivers." For the Chinese women's basketball team, it is gratifying to win the Asian Cup again. There are more challenges waiting in the future, such as the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Paris Olympic Games.

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