Chinese Taipei completes epic comeback win over India, thwarts Singh’s heroic attempt
NONTHABURI (FIBA U18 Asian Championship) - It was viewed from the beginning that Chinese Taipei vs India would be one of the closest games yet in the Group Phase of the FIBA U18 Asia Championship. The two teams did not disappoint in a dogfight. In the end, Chinese-Taipei were able to prevail and fend off India’s desperation attempt to win 83-80.
India’s Princepal Singh stole the ball off an inbound pass with 4.4 seconds left on the clock and got a good look at the game-tying three-pointer. Chinese-Taipei would still be able to celebrate a victory despite the blunder as they saw Singh’s attempt clang off the rim.
The game started out in a slow grind where both teams traded leads back and forth in the first half. Chinese-Taipei were unable to find their range, shooting just only 22.2% in the first half but trailed only 39-36 as India committed 15 turnovers.
India’s size and length helped them build up a lead that grew to as much as 13 points early in the 4th quarter. They were led by the trio of Seijin Mathew (16 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals), Princepal Singh (17 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks), and Pratyanshu Tomar (10 points, 12 rebounds) who all ended up with double-digit scoring.
At the 8:57 mark in the 4th quarter, Chinese-Taipei were down by 13 points after a shot by Princepal Singh. However, they weren’t ready to just give in and triggered a 20-5 run over the next four minutes and thirty seconds to reclaim the lead. Six players contributed to the run for Chinese-Taipei, included four triples. On India’s side, it was the 7 turnovers committed during that crucial run which would prove to be their undoing.
Chinese-Taipei took the lead and never looked back. A three-pointer by Seijin Mathew with 2 minutes left in the game cut the lead down to 83-80, but those would be the last points scored in the game. Both teams squandered opportunities to change the score leading up to the missed heroic attempt by Singh at the buzzer.
Fan Po-Yen Chen was a rock for Chinese-Taipei, not only battling down low with the size of india but also stepping out to make his long range shots as well. He ended up with 17 points and 15 rebounds to go with three long bombs.
The action in Group D continues tomorrow with Chinese-Taipei facing Syria at 5:45 PM (GMT +7) and India against Korea at 12:45 PM (GMT +7).
