FIBA Asia - China and Qatar into final

DOHA (Asian Games) - Wang Zhizhi scored 20 points and China shot over 50% from the field to breeze past Jordan 86-58 and into the final of the 15th Asian Games where they will meet host nation Qatar - who were 67-64 winners against Iran.

China reached their eighth straight Asian Games finally as Jonas Kazlauskas's team shot 52% (33 of 64) from the floor and 55% (11 of 20) from three-point range to prove too much for Jordan.

Jordan tipped off the game without their starting center Ayman Idais, who averaged 9.3 points and 6.7 rebounds until getting injured in Jordan's quarter-final victory over Kazakhstan.

But Mario Palma's team got off to a perfect start, hitting their first six shots and 10 of their first 11 on their way to opening a 26-18 lead. Mo Ke's three-pointer with nine seconds left made it 26-21 after the first period.

As hot as Jordan shot in the first quarter, they were just as cold in the second, missing their first nine shots. They fought and clawed for five offensive rebounds but still couldn't find their mark.

Mo's dunk on the break gave China a 35-28 lead and Jordan didn't make their first basket of the second period until Islam Abbas scored inside with 1:24 left in the half. Abbas scored with 11 seconds left as the deficit was 38-32, but Mo drained another three-pointer at the buzzer for a 41-32 China lead at the break.

After making 11 of 17 shots in the first quarter, Jordan made just two of 13 in the second period.

The third quarter saw more of Jordan's poor shooting and an offensive display by Wang Zhizhi and Zhu Fangyu.

Al Khas's inside basket pulled Jordan to within 43-38, but China coach Jonas Kazlauskas called a time-out with 5:11 left and switched from man-to-man to zone defence and took Jordan out of the game.

Wang Zhizhi scored inside to start a 14-0 spurt which saw Zhu hit back-to-back threes as China pulled ahead 57-38. Zhu hit another from long range as Kazlauskas's team started pulling away.

The reigning Asian champions went ahead 64-40 on Yi's tip-in and led 64-42 going into the fourth. And Kazlauskas was able to rest his starters the rest of the way as Jordan would not get closer than 24 the rest of the way and China extended the lead to 29 points.

Kazlauskas said the zone defence helped lead China to the win.

"Today we had problems with switching on their pick-and-roll and with our communication inside. Something needed to be done and we put the zone in there. We didn't start very well but we finished very good. And I'm very happy to be in the final."

Yi Jianlian collected 17 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes of action while Mo added 13 points and Zhu had 12 points on four of five three-pointers.

The victory wasn't without loss though as Wang Shipeng had to be carted out of the arena on a stretcher after banging knees with Islam Abbas while taking a three-pointer midway through the third quarter.

"I don't know how serious it was. But this could be a big loss," Kazlauskas said.

Al Khas led all scorers with 27 points and Islam Abbas had 12 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort.

"China making 55% of three point shots is not normal. We played 26 minutes of good basketball against China. They went to the zone and hit those three-pointers and the game was finished," Jordan coach Palma said.

The Qatar-Iran match started as a dog-fight with neither team able to produce much offence.

Qatar missed their first six shots and Iman Zandi Mashhady's layup gave Iran a 16-4 lead with 2:20 left in the first.

Yasseen Ismail Abdulla's inside basket with 1:06 left cut the score to 16-9 by the end of the first quarter. Qatar kept up their tough defence and pulled ahead 17-16 with Erfan Ali Saeed's inside jumper with 5:26 completing a 13-0 run spanning quarters.

Iran finally scored again on Muhammad Samad Nikkhah Bahrami's layup 4:53 before half-time, ending a 7:27 scoring drought. Both teams began hitting some shots and went into the locker-room with Iran ahead 25-24 on Hamed Afagh Eslamieh's three with 33 seconds left.

Iran had the better start to the second half, taking a 31-27 advantage on Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami's offensive rebound and put-back. The game was even 40-40 with two minutes in the third when Qatar's sharp-shooters made their presence felt.

Malek Salem Abdulla hit two three-pointers and Saad Abdulrahman Ali drained one of his own as Qatar jumped ahead 51-40 on an 11-0 run. Saeed's inside basket at the buzzer left Qatar leading 53-43 going into the fourth quarter.

Saad Abdulrahman Ali buried a jumper and another three-pointer to move ahead 63-50 with 4:33 remaining. Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami made a long bomb to make it a 65-61 game with 1:40 remaining. But he missed a free throw with 48 seconds left, leaving Qatar ahead 66-62. Yasseen Ismail Musa made one free throw with 28 seconds left but Iran couldn't take advantage as Karam Ahmadian's three pointer with 14 seconds left was off target.

A basket by Mahdi Kamrany, who led Iran with 18 points, was the final basket.

"It took us four years to come to this point. We knew we're only were only 40 minutes away. All the hard work we put in for four years we have to put in today for 40 minutes. We just had to execute what we've been training for the past couple years. All we could do is give 100%. Win or lose you have to come out hard," said Saad Abdulrahman Ali, who paced Qatar with 23 points.

Musa and Saeed each added 11 points for the hosts.

In classification games earlier in the day, Chinese Taipei were just a shadow of the team which nearly knocked off Qatar in Tuesday's quarter-finals, losing 78-67 to Japan in the fifth-eighth place classification. Tomoo Amino scored 15 points and Takehiko Orimo added 14 for the winners.

Chinese Taipei were led by Chen Tsin An's 14 points and Tien Lei's 10 points and 13 rebounds.

On Thursday, Japan play 2002 champions South Korea for fifth place and Chinese Taipei take on Kazakhstan for seventh.

Kim Joo Sung and Kim Sung Chul combined for 42 points and six assists and Kim Seung Hyun had 13 points and eight assists as South Korea easily handled 2002 bronze medalists Kazakhstan 94-74. Rustam Yargaliyev led the Kazakhs with 20 points and Mikhail Yevstigneyev had 14 points off the bench.

Kazakhstan's top young prospect Anton Ponomarev had just nine points and five rebounds in 37 minutes of play.

Also Thursday, Lebanon will play Syria for ninth place after the Lebanese beat Bahrain 90-65 with Roy Samaha collected 19 points and 20 rebounds while Joseph Vogel added 17 points and 15 rebounds. Yaser Isa Bunafoor had 23 points in a losing cause.

Syria won a high-scoring affair with Uzbekistan 111-104 with Michael Madanly registering a triple-double with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Sharif Muhammed Sharif had 25 points and Radwan Hasballah chipped in 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Mikhail Shafenkov scored 31 points in a losing cause.

Bahrain will play Uzbekistan in the game for 11th place.

The basketball day finishes Thursday with the women's bronze medal match as South Korea face Japan, and China take on Chinese Taipei.

China are looking to repeat their 2002 victory and claim their fourth championship while Chinese Taipei have already guaranteed their best-ever finish after collecting bronze in 2002 and 1990.

PA Sport