Taiwan women's basketball team lost to China in the Asian Games bronze medal match, coach Maeda Kenzo affirmed the players' hard work

Taiwan women's basketball team. (provided by the delegation)

[Special Correspondent Nian Miaoyun/Reporting from Nagoya] The Taiwan women's basketball team only played well for half of the Asian Games bronze medal game in Nagoya today, and ultimately lost to China 64:77. Coach Maeda Kenzo affirmed that the players showed hard work and fighting spirit in this game. Although they failed to be delisted, they have shown great potential and hope.

This time the Asian Games competed with other major powers, and today's bronze medal match met China, which has a 223-cm-long Zhang Ziyu. Kenzo Maeda said that being a coach is a very challenging job. "Such an extreme height gap is rarely seen in men's basketball, but under such a disadvantage, the players still performed very well today and worked hard to implement tactics."

Looking back on this Asian Games journey, Maeda Kenzo pointed out that Taiwan was still in the second tier in the Asian Cup last year. It is an extremely rare experience to be able to compete with all of Asia's top first-tier countries such as South Korea, Japan and China this time. "Everyone feels that we can actually compete with them, which brings confidence to the players."

In the past, Kenzo Maeda coached the men's team. This time he came to Taiwan to take over the women's basketball national team. He said that he also gained a lot in the process of changing the environment and coaching the women's team. "Although the contract with the association is a one-year contract, I really want to continue doing it next year. On the premise that I will continue to coach, it will definitely get better."