QAT - Chinese Taipei stun South Korea

DOHA (Asian Games) - Liu Chun Yi and Chiang Feng Chun combined for 46 points as Chinese Taipei surprised three-time champions South Korea in their first Group Y match at the 15th Asian Games.

Taipei, who claimed bronze in 2002 and 1990, never trailed the 2002 silver medalists and they proved stronger in the paint - outscoring South Korea 48-30 while shooting 51% (32 of 63) for the game.

"We have good spirit and we were confident that we would win this game," said Liu. "We have met Korea and even though we lost to them in the (2006) World Championship (in Brazil) we realised that the Korean team was not as strong as we thought."

Korea beat Chinese Taipei 73-52 in the classification game for 13th place in Brazil.

"We were looking forward to this game after we lost to Korea in Brazil. We reviewed the video many times and, although we performed badly in that match, we realised the Korean team was not so strong," added Taipei coach Lin Hung Ling Yao.

South Korea, who have won gold or silver in seven of the eight Asian Games, struggled from the field and made just 39% (26 of 66) of their shots.

Sin Jung Ja paced the Koreans with 19 points while Kim Kwe Ryong added 17 and nine rebounds. Beon Yeon Ha tallied 13 points but she made just five of 19 shots, including two of 10 from three-point range.

The other team in Group Y, Thailand, was idle on Tuesday.

The women's tournament continues on Wednesday as Lebanon face Japan in Group X.

PA Sport