South Korea Suffers Heavy Defeat to Australia in U-18 Basketball Asian Cup Semifinals, Moves to Third-Place Match

The South Korean under-18 (U-18) men's national basketball team suffered a heavy defeat against Australia in the semifinals of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) U-18 Asian Cup, dropping to the third-place match.

Led by head coach Shin Jong-seok, the U-18 national team was decisively beaten 111-74 by Australia in the semifinals of the 2026 FIBA U-18 Asian Cup held in Ahmedabad, India, on the 22nd (local time).

After securing a spot in next year's U-19 World Cup in the Czech Republic by crushing Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals on the 21st, South Korea had aimed to reclaim the U-18 Asian Cup title for the first time in four years since 2022.

However, struggling against Australia's height advantage—including a heavy 66-18 deficit in rebounds—South Korea suffered a lopsided loss and missed out on a place in the final.

Yoon Ji-won (Kyungbok High School) put up a strong fight with 18 points, including three three-pointers, and 6 rebounds, along with Park Tae-jun (Yongsan High School) with 16 points and Yoon Ji-hoon (Kyungbok High School) with 12 points and 4 steals.

South Korea will play New Zealand in the third-place match on the 23rd.

Australia and China will face each other in the final.

(Photo: Captured from the FIBA website, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.