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Taiwan win cross-strait basketball
battle
Staff writer, with CNA
China¡¦s Chen Shih-Chieh, center,
fights for the ball with Taiwanese players during their FIBA Asia Basketball
Championship quarter-final in Metro Manila yesterday.
Photo: AFP
Taiwanese players celebrate after
beating China in their FIBA Asia Basketball Championship quarter-final game in
Metro Manila yesterday.
Photo: AFP
With Taiwan trailing by 17 points midway
through the second quarter of their quarter-final showdown against China at the
FIBA Asia Championship in Metro Manila yesterday, history seemed to be repeating
itself.
Taiwan had lost all 10 previous encounters with China at the biennial Asian
basketball championship by double-digit margins, and even a rally at the end of
the half to cut the deficit to 50-40 appeared to be nothing more than a
temporary surge.
However, in one of the most incredible explosions in the country¡¦s basketball
history, Taiwan scored 56 points after the break on 22-31 shooting and played
tenacious defense to emerge with a stunning 96-78 triumph.
The victory put Taiwan in the FIBA Asia Championship semi-finals for the first
time since 1999 and kept them in contention for a top-three finish that would
provide an automatic berth at next year¡¦s Basketball World Cup.
Taiwan face undefeated tournament favorites Iran today for a place in the
tournament final.
Though China had former NBA players Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi in their lineup,
they had shown cracks earlier in the tournament, losing to both Iran and South
Korea.
However, the shellacking they took in the second half was nothing short of
shocking, especially after the Chinese controlled the tempo in the first half
and made over 50 percent of their shots.
Former Chinese national team head coach Wang Fei called the outcome ¡§incredible
and incomprehensible.¡¨
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