Spain's Zaragoza advances to the semifinals by beating Japan's Champ Fujitsu in the Park Shin-ja Cup
Sep 03, 2025
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As expected, the 'preview final' was a great match.
In the match between the top teams of Europe's powerhouse Spain and Asia's powerhouse Japan, Europe was also one-up.
Spain's Zaragoza beat Japan's strongest Fujitsu 80-67 in the Group A match of the '2025 BNK Financial Park Shin-ja Cup' held at Sajik Gymnasium in Busan on the 3rd, securing the top spot in the group, becoming the first to confirm its advance to the semifinals.
Zaragoza is a strong team that finished fourth in the regular league and second in the playoffs last season in the Spanish league. Fujitsu was also last season's champion in the Japanese league and the defending champion who won the Park Shin-ja Cup last year. It was a match to determine the first or second place in Group A, and a de facto final.
From the beginning, the game was not pushed out. Fujitsu continued its lead with three consecutive three-pointers by Saki Hayashi on the occasion of Zaragoza, who is at least 1m tall among the main members. Zaragoza and center Nadia Pingal, who also reached 1m91, also responded with two three-pointers, and continued to play with steel and tall players participating in the fast attack.
Fujitsu's response to the tall corps was also speed. In particular, after dragging the opponent's tall center to the outside, he quickly drove in past it and got the effect. He also made eight 3-pointers in the first half alone. In the rebound fight, they faced each other equally in the first half, 17-18.
In particular, in the third quarter, when Zaragoza actively utilized bench members to give the main players a break, he tied the opponent to 10 points with his unique systematic defense and made consecutive layup shots following active fastballs, cut-ins, and physical fights to tie it 52-52.
However, Zaragoza also had a physical advantage. After the start of the fourth quarter, Ornella Bancole made a three-point play under the basket following a middle jumper, and the score of technician forward Veronica Borakkova, who even showed a spin move, began to open the score again. On top of that, Elena Omah and Bancole's consecutive three-pointers exploded and ran to 66-52. Fujitsu, who rarely burst outside in the second half, scored its first point since the start of the fourth quarter, but it was too late to follow. The 26% success rate of putting only 12 in 46 3-point attempts could not exceed Zaragoza.
On the other hand, Zaragoza attacked the outside area occasionally, but based on his height, he thoroughly aimed for the paint zone and silenced the defending champion with a 55% success rate (26 successful in 47 attempts).
However, the two teams are likely to meet again in the final, signaling another interesting match. In any case, just because the match between the top teams of Europe and Japan was held in Korea, the status of the Park Shin-ja Cup has risen further.
Zaragoza coach Carlos Morales said "It was a new experience to learn a little bit about the difference between Korean and Japanese basketball when I met Fujitsu on the 3rd following Woori Bank on the 1st. The Korean players were short, but they were quick and had good shots on the outside, while the Japanese players felt that they played their part faithfully and were very organized."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
