Turkey, Germany, Spain, and Japan are the four teams who have advanced to the finals of the Junior World Championship in Phuket, Thailand. The tournament has already seen four exciting semi-finals.
Following their victory over the United States by a score of 81-54, Turkey became the first team to clinch a spot in the semifinals of the competition. The United States of America had a difficult time restraining the towering big men of Turkey, but Turkey was led by Mucahit Gunaydin, who recorded a triple-double (35 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists).
After having a poor showing in their last group game against Spain, Japan bounced back with a win over Israel in their next contest and got back on track for the rest of the tournament. The tough defense that Japan played allowed only 43 points to be scored by Israel, while their attack swept past their opponents by 21 points, leading to a win for Japan (43-64), which earned them a position in the semifinals of the competition.
At the break of the third quarterfinal, the tournament favorites Spain were behind Australia by four points, but Australia had a solid first half and grabbed the lead. Ignacio Ortega and Jose Onrubia led Spain to a second-half comeback victory that resulted in a 77-63 victory against Australia, despite the fact that Spain entered the halfway break down by 11. (26 points).
The deciding quarterfinal matchup between Brazil and Germany was a nail-biter after three quarters of action that went back and forth between both teams. The decisive reason in Europe’s win and passage to the semifinals was Germany’s performance in the fourth quarter, in which they outscored their opponents 26-8.
A rematch from the group stage between Germany and another European team, Turkey, will take place on Thursday, September 15, while a replay from the quarterfinals between Spain and Japan will also take place on the same day.
In the 9-12 Crossover games, Canada and France advanced to the 9-10 Place Game with relative ease, defeating South Africa (71-30) and Thailand (68-34), respectively, to claim their spots.
