Chennai: Beijing Olympic quarterfinalist
China outplayed defending champions Korea 91-71 in the summit
clash to register their 11th FIBA Asian Women Basketball
Championship title here today.
With this win, China also took revenge over the Koreans,
who defeated them in the last three finals of the event.
Earlier, Japan claimed the bronze, defeating Chinese
Taipei 72-57 in the third place play-off match.
The top three finishers in the tournament -- Korea, China
and Japan -- have qualified for the FIBA World Championship to
be held in Czech Republic next year.
In title clash between China and Korea, both the teams
played defensively the first quarter.
However, in the second quarter, China, playing in their
sixth straight final and 16th overall, started asserting
themselves over their Korean opponents.
Nan Chen, China`s tallest player was most prominent in
the match, both in defence and in attack.
In the third quarter, Fan Zhang was in high spirits,
scoring three baskets in a row to increase the lead. the
Chinese strategy of blocking the rivals from entering their
zone also worked well.
The Koreans, aiming for a record 13th title, hardly made
their sallies under the basket. Beon Yeon Ha and her mates
were forced to go in for long range shots.
The Chinese, playing for their tenth gold medal in the
biennial event, played with confidence and steadily increased
the lead to end the third quarter at 67-46.
The Chinese maintained their supremacy while continuing
to harass the rivals with intimidating defensive methods.
China led 80-59 mid-way through the fourth quarter. Two
minutes before the hooter, the score line was reading 85-65.
Individually, Indian captain and star shooter, Geethu
Anna Jose emerged top scorer in the championship with 132
points, followed by Chantelle Denise Anderson (118) and Chada
Nasr (101) of Lebanon.
Earlier, Japan retained the bronze medal, defeating
Chinese Taipei 72-57. Noriko Koiso top scored for Japan with
21 points. He was ably assisted by Al Mitani (16) and Yuko Oga
(10), while Hui-Yun Cheng (17), Yung-hsu Chu (9) and Chun-yi
Liu (9) were the main scorers for Chinese Taipei.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, September 24, 2009, 20:11
