The last womenโ€™s quarter-final of day 7 in the wheelchair basketball at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games saw hosts Japan face the current World Champions the Netherlands. The Dutch started the game doing what they like best: pressing and scoring. Keeping Japan at 6 points within the first 10 minutes whilst they scored 28 points at a field goal percentage of 74.ย 

The Netherlands continued to put on a show and went into halftime with a 34 points lead.

Unfortunately for the smaller Japanese team, also in the second half, as they struggled to contain the Dutch power play and match-up to the height of the Dutch.

The Japanese lost the quarter-final by a significant margin, the final score 82-24. In a very strong Dutch collective effort, Netherlandsโ€™ย  Mariska Beijer was on fire hitting 38 points and 11 rebounds.ย 

Beijer reiterated the advantage the Dutch had saying:

โ€œThey donโ€™t have a really tall player and thatโ€™s convenient for me because Iโ€™m big. We kept pressure on the shooters and if they cannot shoot, they cannot score.โ€

If it’s any consolation, at least Japan will get a chance to play one last game on their home turf and to hopefully finish the event on a positive note in their Classification Game for 5th place. The Netherlands will take on Germany in Thursday’s semi-final for a classic European clash.ย 

Looking ahead to their semi-final game against Germany, Beijer added:

โ€œIโ€™m excited. They kicked us out in Rio (2016) and London (2012) so Iโ€™m really looking forward to paying them back a little bit.โ€