Japan Faces Challenge After Saki Hayashi's Injury in FIBA World Cup

BERLIN — The noise stopped in an instant.

Japan’s playoff clash with Hungary at the women’s FIBA World Cup had been building into a tight, nervy contest on Tuesday when Saki Hayashi, one of the tournament’s early stars, crashed to the floor and turned the arena cold.

Driving through contact late in the second quarter, the Japanese shooting guard absorbed a hard foul in midair from Agnes Torok, finished the play, and then landed awkwardly on her right arm. The shot dropped. Hayashi did not get up.

She appeared to suffer a serious arm injury, possibly a break, and required immediate medical attention with just over a minute left in the half. Players stepped back. Officials waved urgently to the sideline. The crowd, buzzing seconds earlier, fell into a heavy silence as she lay motionless on the court.

Arena staff rushed out a blue tarp to shield her from view, a makeshift curtain in the middle of a World Cup knockout game. Teammates watched, some with hands on heads, as medical personnel worked. When Hayashi was finally helped to her feet and led away, the tension broke into a long, respectful applause from both sets of fans.

Her exit stripped Japan of one of its most dangerous weapons. Hayashi had lit up Mali in Japan’s opening win on Friday, burying nine 3-pointers and announcing herself as one of the purest shooters in the competition. That performance had underpinned Japan’s belief that it could shoot its way deep into the tournament.

Now, in a playoff that will decide who earns the right to face the United States in Thursday’s quarterfinal, Japan suddenly had to confront a different kind of test — tactical and emotional — without its in-form guard.

At halftime, Hungary held a 37-34 lead, a three-point cushion that felt larger in the wake of Hayashi’s departure. The scoreboard said the game was still finely balanced. The mood in the building said something had shifted.