Japanese wheelchair basketball player Mari Amimoto leads in scoring at world championships

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 

Animoto at last year's Asia-Oceania championship
Image: Matthew Wells.

With five days of competition complete as of last night, Japanese wheelchair basketball player Mari Amimoto leads in scoring at the Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship taking place in Toronto, Canada. She scored 122 total points, 7 more than the second highest leading scorer, Canadian Janet McLachlan.

The 4.5 point player Amimoto, who plays club basketball in Australia, led her team in scoring with 18 in their opener against Canada, which they lost 83–53. In her team's 61–55 loss to China, she again led her team in scoring with 22 points. In her third game in pool play, a 48–62 loss to Great Britain, she again led her team in scoring with 25 points. In her team's only win in pool play, she scored 37 points against Brazil in a game they won 63–52. In the final game of pool play, she scored 20 points, leading her team in scoring in their 82–49 loss to Germany.

Amimoto matched up against British player Helen Freeman, another leading scorer in the tournament, in her game against Great Britain. Freeman held back Amimoto's game after Japan took a very an early lead 4–2.

On her personal blog, Amimoto thanked people for their continued support ^{((jp))Japanese language: ‍最後も引き続き応援よろしくお願いします！} and said she was excited to be playing in the ninth place match against Mexico, and it is a game she really wants to win. ^{((jp))Japanese language: ‍決勝トーナメントには進めず、9-10位決定戦になりました。現実を受け止め、最終戦しっかり勝って終わりたいです！ [...] カナダ時間の26日 10:00～ と9-10位決定戦です！}

Overall in the competition, 126 players have scored at least two total points. Canada is the only nation with more than one player amongst the top ten scorers. Their second leading scorer is Katie Harnock, with 75 points so far. Other players in the top ten include USA player Rebecca Murray with 105 points, Dutch Mariska Beijer with 101 points, Chinese player Yong Qing Fu with 99 points, Mexican player Floralia Estrada with 96 points, British player Helen Freeman with 89 points, German player Marina Mohnen with 88 points, and French player Angelique Pichon with 76 points.

Round robin play concluded yesterday, with France, Germany, China, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States all having qualified to play in quarter-final matches scheduled for tomorrow. Japan was scheduled to play Mexico for ninth place, and Brazil was scheduled to play Peru for eleventh place.

Sources

• Mari Amimoto. "MARI AMIMOTO～OFFICIAL BLOG～" — Ameba (website), June 25, 2014 (access date)
• "Mari Amimoto (4.5)" — Fox Sports Pulse, June 25, 2014 (access date)
• "Schedule & Results" — Wheelchair Basketball Canada, June 25, 2014 (access date)
• "Top N Scorers" — Wheelchair Basketball Canada, June 24, 2014
• "Germany V Japan" — FIBA, June 24, 2014
• "Brazil V Japan" — FIBA, June 23, 2014
• "Great Britain V Japan" — FIBA, June 22, 2014
• "GB bounce back to take down Japan" — The Undersized Basketball, June 22, 2014
• "Short-benched GB Team battle to victory over Japan" — British Paralympic Association, June 22, 2014
• "Japan V China" — FIBA, June 21, 2014
• "Canada V Japan" — FIBA, June 20, 2014