BANGKOK (FIBA Asia Championship for Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Korea stunned China and Japan throttled Chinese Taipei on Saturday night to clinch places at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey.
The Koreans, who trailed by as many as nine points in the second half of the first Semi-Final at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Women in Bangkok, prevailed 71-66 over the two-time defending champions.
Veteran guard Beon Yeon Ha poured in a team-high 22 points.
Japan, the only unbeaten team in the competition, won for the sixth time by hammering Chinese Taipei, 74-56, in the second Semi-Final.
Knotted at 10-10 in the first quarter, Japan reeled off 16 unanswered points to take control for good.
China will now take on Chinese Taipei on Sunday in the battle for third which determines the last qualifying spot for the World Championship.
In the most thrilling contest of the day, Korea survived against China despite playing without their opening night star Kwak Joo-Yeong.
The center who buried the game-winning shot in the 72-70 win over the Chinese sprained her ankle in Korea's defeat to Chinese Taipei on Thursday.
"I'm just really happy, even though some of our players are hurting and injured, but today for the fans we showed our enthusiasm," Korea coach We Sungwoo said.
"In the sport of basketball, the mental side is important and that's what we showed.
"Our team got better when the game became very serious.
"I really thank the players."
Korea's defense over the final 13 minutes of the game helped them defeat China.
The Chinese were just five of 15 from the floor in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points.
"When we practice, we also talk about the defense," We said.
"Defense is the most important skill in basketball. So we tried really hard to play defense.
"China has really good players, so we had to play good defense, first, and today we had full-court press and overall good defense."
Tom Maher's team also made just four of their eight free-throws over the last 10 minutes.
Beon, who has played for the national team a long time, said the team's focus is what carried them to the win.
"Experience is important, but our concentration was the key to this victory," she said.
Maher says he's not surprised that China came up short against Korea twice.
"We play immature basketball," he said.
"That's the way it is until you gain experiences.
"We just had so many unforced errors."
Chen Xiaojia, China's starting point guard, cut a frustrated figure after the game.
"First, congratulations to Korea because they are going to the Final," she said.
"Compared to Korea, China is a young team.
"We need to draw a lesson from this game and prepare for tomorrow's game (against Chinese Taipei).
"We need to win tomorrow."
Chen Nan had a game-high 23 points in defeat, while Gao Song contributed 14 and eight rebounds.
In the last game of the day, Japan's guards wreaked havoc early and often.
Playmaker Asami Yoshida poured in seven points in the opening frame and had three of the team's five steals, and Yuko Oga contributed six points.
Japan's lead ballooned to 19 points in the second quarter grew to 25 points after half-time.
They had 21 points off Chinese Taipei's 21 turnovers.
"We're excited about getting to the World Championship," Oga said. "But right now, there is more work to do."
Japan haven't won the FIBA Asia Championship title since 1970.
"We have to show our style, team defense to go to the fast break against Korea," she said. "We need to do that if we are going to win.
"We have a lot of respect for the Korean team, but we trust in ourselves.
"In the next game, if we get the win, then we haven't wasted this victory (over Chinese Taipei)."
In the day's qualifying games that determined the teams to join Japan, Korea, China and Chinese Taipei in Level I for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship for Women, India and Thailand were winners.
India defeated Malaysia, 74-59, and tournament hosts Thailand surprised Kazakhstan, 63-57.
For full and in-depth coverage of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Women, go to the official http://bangkok2013.fibaasia.net.
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