China's women make semis, men exit from Asiad 3x3 basketball

HANGZHOU, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's women's team defeated Kazakhstan 21-7 to advance to the semifinals, while its men's team bowed out after losing to Chinese Taipei 22-15 in the 3x3 basketball competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games here on Saturday.

China's women team started their match with great momentum and led 12-2 in the early stage, before continuing to widen the gap and never looking back.

"In the semifinals and final, the opponents will be stronger, and we will be fully prepared," said China's Wan Jiyuan.

In the men's event, Chinese Taipei made a flying start, leading 7-4 with a pair of two-pointers, but reached seven fouls first, giving China free throw opportunities that they failed to capitalize on.

Chinese Taipei frequently broke through China's defense and hit two-pointers in a row, before eventually securing victory.

"We did not play well at the beginning of the game, and our teamwork did not work, but then we played better and better, many of us scored points through assists, and I think that's a significant improvement for us," said Chinese Taipei's Lin Xinkuan.

China's Liu Yuxuan attributed the loss mainly to poor defense. "They played a game earlier in the day, so their shooting touch was definitely better than ours, and we didn't do well enough on defense, allowing them to make too many two-pointers," he said.

China's women's team will face Japan, and Chinese Taipei's men's team will go up against South Korea in the semifinals on Friday.