China, South Korea into Semi-finals with Two Gulf TeamsChina and South Korea met little trouble to enter the semi-finals, setting up two East vs. West matches at the Asian Basketball Championship for Men.China, who defeated Chinese Taipei 100-71, will face Syria, while South Korea meet Lebanon with a 97-76 crack-down of India. Syria stopped Qatar, a team which won the Asian Youth Championship in 2000, with a morale-boosting 80-68 victory to have their best run in the competition. Lebanon's top-scorer Fadi El Khatib had another great game with 24 points to beat Japan 83-73 for the second place in Group I behind the power house China. The nine-day competition will have one day off on Thursday and resume on Friday with semi-final and placing matches. The hot-shot Chinese displayed another smooth game as they were 69% in the field and 44% from behind the arc. Power forward veteran Gong Xiaobin had a perfect game with game- high 19 points, 9-9 in the field and 1-1 on the line. "We kept the pressure on China's big guys inside, but their shooters were too good to beat," said Chinese Taipei head coach Lii Yun-kung. Dallas Mavericks center Wang Zhizhi made only one basket in his 3:54 playing time. China's head coach Wang Fei said, "Wang Zhizhi didn't play a good defence, so I benched him for the whole game." A duo performance from Michel Maadanly, 24 points, and Mohaommad Imam, 20, gave Syria a big victory. The modest Syria led from the very beginning and never let their Gulf opponents come close to five points throughout the game. China's Hong Kong were one step towards the 9-10 placing final as they surrendered one of their best game to Uzbekistan, 76-75, in the Group III, while Kuwait finished second to United Arab Emirates in Group IV after they beat Thailand, 77-55. Trailing by 28-13 in the first quarter, China's Hong Kong found their attacking power to cut the deficit to one point before the break and steered up to a two-point lead after the third quarter at 61-59. But Uzbekistan took the control again under center Demurin Sergen's 22 points and 20 rebounds play and Shafenov Mikhail's 20 points. Guard Chung Ming-Tat led China's Hong Kong with 17 points and six assists. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |