Asian Para Games: tearful fans celebrate China women’s wheelchair basketball gold as Japan are thrashed in final
- With China’s Lin Suiling scoring a game-high 21 points, hosts win an easy final against Japan 61-30
- Fans laud win on social media – ‘I had tears in my eyes watching … the embodiment of not giving up, well done girls!’ writes one
China’s women’s wheelchair basketball team defended their Asian Para Games title by defeating Japan in the final on Thursday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.
China, who also defeated Japan in a group match on Tuesday, breezed past Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Iran to reach the final.
In the gold-medal match, the hosts controlled the game from the start. Lin Suiling scored a game-high 21 points, with Lyu Guidi notching 12 and Zhang Tonglei adding another 11 for the team.
Ending the game with more than double the points of the Japanese, China eased their way to a 61-30 victory.
In a fight for bronze, Thailand overcame Iran 46-31 for a spot on the podium.
In each of the four editions of the Asian Para Games, China and Japan have competed in the women’s final. Japan took the inaugural gold in 2010 in Guangzhou, but they had to settle for silver in 2014 in Incheon, and 2018 in Jakarta.
Chinese basketball fans celebrated the victory on social media platform Weibo, where the topic was trending high.
“I had tears in my eyes when I watched it early in the morning,” one person wrote. “Every time one of their wheelchairs overturned in a confrontation, the girls got up and started fighting again.
“This is a competition, and it is also the perseverance in the bones of the Chinese people. The embodiment of not giving up, well done girls!”
Another fane wrote, “How much hard work it takes to achieve today’s results brings tears to my eyes, all because of love.”
Adding 29 golds on day 4 of the Games, China maintained its huge lead in the medal table with 393 – 157 of which are gold. Second-placed Iran are far behind on 96 overall medals.
China’s men’s team, however, missed out on the podium after losing the bronze medal match 79-35 to Iran on Friday. Japan were set to face South Korea in the final on Friday afternoon.
