Challenge to the milestone of '17 consecutive World Cup finals' and the women's basketball team "will achieve the goal."

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean women's basketball team expressed a firm determination ahead of the milestone of advancing to the World Cup finals for the 16th consecutive time.

The Korea Basketball Association released an interview with head coach Park Soo-ho and captain Kang Yi-seul on the 11th, ahead of the final qualifying round for the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. The national team, led by head coach Park Soo-ho, will play in the final qualifying round to be held in Villerrevan, France from the 11th and aim for tickets to the World Cup finals in Germany in September.

Coach Park Soo-ho said through the association, "We didn't have much time to prepare because we were convened during the season, but we prepared to show our best performance because of the team's teamwork that matched the previous Asian Cup and World Cup pre-qualifiers," adding, "We will definitely achieve our goal of advancing to the World Cup finals with the players."

A total of 24 countries will compete in four regions in this final qualifying round. South Korea was part of the Villervan group along with France, Nigeria, Germany, Colombia, and the Philippines. In this group, the host Germany and the AfroBasket winner Nigeria have already confirmed their advance to the finals, so the top two teams excluding them will win the remaining tickets.

Korea, which is currently ranked 15th in the FIBA rankings, is lower than France (3rd), Nigeria (8th), and Germany (12th), but ahead of Colombia (19th) and the Philippines (39th).

Coach Park Soo-ho said, "As the opponent has a physical advantage, we are preparing with a focus on rotation defense," adding, "If the fast transition and outer shooting, which are the strengths of Korean basketball, are revived, we will be able to play well enough with any team."

Regarding the tight schedule, he added, "We will pay attention to rotation operation and conditioning management that utilizes as many players as possible."

Captain Kang Yi-seul also expressed his strong will to advance to the finals. Kang Yi-seul said, "I have a lot of pressure and responsibility, but I will definitely go back after getting the ticket," and stressed, "As European teams and games are disadvantageous in physicality, fast-tempo offense and defense conversion and high probability 3-point shooting are important."

In particular, Kang Yi-seul cited the match against Colombia as a watershed in advancing to the finals. Germany and Nigeria are already confirmed teams to go to the finals, so we have to compete for the remaining two tickets, Kang Yi-seul said. "We must catch the match against Colombia and the Philippines, which we can win."

Currently, the national team is composed of Kang Yi-seul, Heo Ye-eun, Lee Hae-ran, Ahn Hye-ji, Lee So-hee, Park So-hee, Jinan, and Park Ji-hyun, starting with Park Ji-soo, and is in the trend of generational change. Kang Yi-seul said, "The current national team is young, energetic, and active running basketball. Each team is different during the season, but I hope everyone at least supports the national team with one mind."

Korea is a traditional powerhouse who has been on the stage for 16 consecutive World Cup finals from the 4th Peruvian Games in 1964 to the 2022 Australian Games.

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*This content was translated by AI.