MAS - Korea, China book ticket to Germany, play for gold

JOHOR BAHRU (FIBA Asia U16 Championship) - China and Korea both scored keenly contested semifinal wins to enter the final of the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship on Thursday.

The entry into the final also booked the East Asian duo's ticket to the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship to be held in Germany.

Korea's 82-81 win over Iran was a true reflection of the closeness of the contest, while China needed a strong fourth quarter performance to defeat Philippines 85-66.

Korea ran a 9-0 spree to take control of the proceedings and never trailed by more than five points till Iran made a 15-2 dash in the final two minutes of the third quarter.

Korea bounced back in characteristic fashion and went ahead again early in the fourth quarter.

Iran clipped back the lead and when Amir Sedighi leveled the scores for Iran at 80 and Yousefi converted only one of the two free-throws with less than a minute left on the clock, Jonghyun Lee scored in the paint

Mir Fattahi fumbled with the return offensive play and Korea clinched the issue.

Philippines win hearts, China the game

Philippines ran circles around the slothful Chinese defense for three-quarters of the game, but the latter's more varied options in offense helped them win the first semifinal.

A woeful 35% shooting percentage as against the rivals' 60% saw China trail for almost the entire first quarter at the end of which they trailed 15-19.

A 10-0 run early in the second quarter put China ahead by a sizable margin for the first time in the game, but Philippines shot back with a spree of their own to level the scores to push China back to the way again.

But with a resourceful line-up, led by the immensely talented Guo Ailun and the robust Ju Mingxin, at their disposal only their own shooting mistakes would have kept China away from the victory.

Philippines to their credit kept the pressure on the scoreboard before China's offensive power was unleashed in the fourth quarter.

China thus managed to win by 19 points, the smallest margin in the Championship thus far.

Taipei take on Japan for fifth place

East Asian teams Japan and Chinese Taipei scored convincing wins over two West Asian teams to set up a clash for the fifth place.

Japan overcame Jordan 100-57 after Taipei had beaten Syria 75-50.

Jordan and Syria will play for the seventh place.

Japan scored the first six points of the game which set the tone for their dominance on the scoreboard and continued to roll towards their largest win in the Championship.

In the other game, Aghyad Rahal shot the first three-pointer of the game to put Syria ahead 3-2, but that was only time the West Asian team led during the entire game.

Taipei outscored their rivals 17-4 in the first five minutes and continued to grow in strength before rounding off a 25-point win.

Kuwait finish 13th

Hussain Shuaib led the game for scoring and Mohammad Aloun returned a double-double as Kuwait powered over Singapore 66-60 to take the 13th place.

Shuaib scored 18 points, collected seven rebounds and effected four assists.

Aloun collected 13 boards - seven in defense - to add value to his 17 points.

Russel Low with 14 points was the highest scorer for Singapore.

Saudi Arabia avoid wooden spoon

Saudi Arabia recorded their first win in the Championship with a 72-61 result over Thailand to win the 15th place play-off.

Thailand, thus, finished 16th in the fray of 16.

Thailand's Loephong Kongtawee and Ahmed Almukhtar of Saudi Arabia shared the scoring honours for the game with 22 points each.

Scores

SEMIFINALS

China 85 (Ju Mingxin 18, Zhai Xiaochuan 15, Wang Zirui 13, Guo Ailun 11) bt Philippines 66 (Jeron Teng 18, Kiefer Ravena 17, Roldan Sara 13). Quarterwise Scores: 15-19, 36-32, 55-47.

Korea 82 (Jonghyun Lee 19, Hyosub Shin 14, Seungwook Choi 13, Changjin Choi 12, Dongyeop Lee 12) bt Iran 81 (Amir Sedighi 30, Mir Fattahi 21, Soheil Yousefi 20). Quarterwise Scores: 24-18, 35-42, 65-63.

5-8 PLACINGS

Chinese Taipei 75 (Chen Ying-chun 18, Yang Hsing-chih 14, Ching Wei-ping 13, Kao Po-yu 10, Chen Kuan-chuan 10) bt Syria 50 (Muhammad Otabachi 15, Ockba Baghajati 11). Quarterwise Scores: 26-14, 42-23, 65-42.

Japan 100 (Yuto Aratani 28, Taiki Uehara 18, Ryo Tawatari 18, Tsukasa Tano 14) bt Jordan 57 (Majdi Al-Ghzawi 19, Malek Kanaan 11, Fakrhi Al-Syouri 10). Quarterwise Scores: 26-9, 42-19, 69-32.

FOR 13TH PLACE

Kuwait 66 (Hussain Shuaib 18, Mashari Abudhom 17, Mohammad Aloun 17) bt Singapore 60 (Russel Low 14, Poh Wei Hao 11, Ng Wei Xiang 11). Quarterwise Scores: 13-8, 39-29, 54-38.

FOR 15TH PLACE

Saudi Arabia 72 (Ahmed Almukhtar 22, Nassir Abo Jalas 16) bt Thailand 61 (Loephong Kongtawee 22, Torpong Mattayamanan 15). Quarterwise Scores: 22-12, 34-34, 53-48.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia