FIBA Asia - Wang Zhizhi leads China to Asian Games gold

DOHA (Asian Games) - China underlined their status as the continent’s dominant power by romping past hosts Qatar to clinch the gold medal at the 15th Asian Games.

Wang Zhizhi capped his impressive run at the tournament by scoring 28 points to lead his side to the title in a 59-44 triumph.

Superstar center Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets was unavailable for the Games but he was hardly missed, with Wang showing glimpses of the form that led him to the NBA several years ago.

Wang failed to make an impact in the United States, but he is a key player in the CBA and indispensible for China in international competition.

Wang was hot on Friday, and China were solid defensively, giving up just five points in the fourth quarter in reclaiming the title they lost to South Korea at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.

"I think the final was a really good level of basketball. And how we beat our opponent today was a very big success for us. Generally we controlled the situation on the court the whole time and we played good defence."

"We won this game with Wang Zhizhi and the other guys up front. I'm very happy for the team. And I think this team in the future can be much stronger."

Playing in their eighth straight Asian Games final, China pulled ahead 20-10 with 1:39 to go in the first quarter as Wang and Zhu Fangyu combined for all 20 points with Wang hitting for 12 on perfect five-of-five shooting.

Ali Turki Ali, one of Qatar's stars at the FIBA World Championship in Hamamatsu, Japan, this summer, hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 20-15 after 10 minutes. His inside layup made it a 20-19 game.

But China's other players finally started getting into rhythm. Mo Ke's three-pointer for a 27-19 lead with 4:36 left in the half were the first China points not scored by Wang Zhizhi or Zhu.

Then Yi Jianlian scored seven quick points as China led 34-25 going into the locker room.

Qatar executed their offense better in the second half, and Daoud Mousa Daoud's three-pointer cut the China advantage to 40-37 with 2:36 to play in the third.

Wang closed out the quarter with back-to-back baskets and China were up 47-39 going into the fourth.

Kazlauskas' team forced Qatar into three straight turnovers and Wang Shipeng's long range bomb put China ahead 53-39 with six minutes to play. The Chinese contested Qatar's shooters and Joey Stiebing's team couldn't get their shots to fall as they got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

"Their premier player, Wang Zhizhi, had a great game. He scored 29 points and to me that was the difference in the game. We didn't have anyone to match up with him," said Stiebing, who led Qatar to their first basketball medal at the Asian Games.

"I'm really proud of how we played, how we fought. We held this team to 59 points. That's a pretty impressive job. But when you have a former NBA player playing for you, he should be the guy to pick them up and he did for them."

While Wang Zhizhi was busy scoring 28 points, Yi collected eight points, 15 rebounds and two steals, and Zhu added 10 points.

Omar Abdelkader Salem did all he could for the hosts, scoring 16 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in a losing effort. Daoud was Qatar's next best scorer with eight points as Stiebing's team shot just 33% (17 of 51) from the floor.

In the bronze medal game, Mahdi Kamrany scored 19 points and Karam Ahmadian had 18 off the bench as Iran held off a late charge by Jordan to win 84-78.

Iran led 63-36 with about four minutes left in the third quarter, but Islam Abbas scored seven points as Jordan went on a 15-0 spurt to close within 63-51 one minute before the fourth quarter.

The Iranians pulled ahead 69-56 early in the fourth only to see Abbas continue his superb second half, scoring six more points while Mohammad Hodrab's inside basket cut the deficit to 73-68 with 4:38 to play.

But Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami drained their straight baskets and Iran were again ahead 80-68 with two minutes remaining. Ahmadian's free throw wiht 35 seconds left gave Iran again a 10-point lead to finish off the game.

From David Hein, PA Sport, Doha
Exclusively for FIBA