On the penultimate day of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women in Ankara, Japan and Canada booked their places to claim the fifth and last spot for the London Games next month.
Japan defeated Korea 79-51 which means that Korea are now eliminated and the Japanese, who have now claimed their first win over their Asian rivals in seven encounters stretching from 2005.
Japan were comfortable against a shellshocked Korean team who were only able to score four points in the first quarter. They will miss the Olympics for the first time since 1992.
Guard Yuko Oga led the victors with 20 points, shooting 66% from the field on 10/15 shooting. Jung-Ja Sin led Korea with 17 – but lacked support scoring wise as her side crumbled in the first quarter.
Japan led 29-4 after ten minutes, blitzing their opponents from the opening tip. It turned out to be the turning point of the game as eventhough Korea fought back, a lack of scorers and poor transition defence meant that they couldn’t overturn the deficit.
Canada will face Japan after they ended up 58-41 victors over Argentina as the South Americans go home.
While the game wasn’t considered a classic by any means, the Canadians won’t care as they won all four quarters against a sub-par Argentina side.
Courtnay Pilypaitis led Canada with 12 points, supported by Lizanne Murphy who hit 11. Argentina were fronted by Andrea Boquete who scored 11 points in vain.
