Sports

China masterclass floors Qatar, India fight past Malaysia

August 20, 2014 | 09:18 PM

Action from the match between defending champions China (red) and hosts Qatar at the FIBA Asia Under-18 Basketball Championship being played at the Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday. China won 89-18. (Pictures: Jayaram)

By Yash Mudgal/Doha

Defending champions China thrashed below-par hosts Qatar 89-18 in a Group A match of the FIBA Asia Under-18 Basketball Championship at the Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday.

China, who are aiming for a hat-trick of titles, were in top gear right from the word go and were 20-6 up by the end of the first quarter. The hosts—who went the first six minutes without scoring—struggled to cope with the pace.

Qatar scored six points in the first and second quarters each which was the most they scored in a period, while seven Chinese players scored more than that.

China made the most of Qatar’s wayward game as Zhennian Zuo led the way with 20 points in an outstanding show. He gelled well with Yuchen Zou as they shared 34 points between them. Qi Zhou also contributed nine points.
The tallest Qatari forward, Abdelrehman Yehia, with six points was the top scorers for the hosts. Shooting guard Abdulrahman Saad, the most experienced Qatar player, was off colour as he could score only three points yesterday.
Commenting over the match, Qatar coach Joseph Brian Lester said: “It’s hard to play against them. They were too good in every area. They were big, they were strong, they were better shooters... They are a top class team, ranked among the top 10 teams in the world. What more to say...”
Qatar, who won their first match against India on Tuesday, will take on Malaysia in their crucial last group match today. Qatar have to win the match to avoid a three-way tie for two slots for the second round. “We have to regroup ourselves for Malaysia, which will be a competitive game,” Lester said.
The Chinese coach was happy with his team’s show. “It was a nice game for us. We were on a different level today, but it’s hard to control somebody under 20 points. We played a well-controlled game. The boys were very persistent during the match and their running was also good,” Chinese head coach Bin Fan said.
Earlier, India kept their hopes alive of advancing to the second round with a 73-64 win over Malaysia in their second group match. India, who lost to hosts Qatar on the opening day, next meet 10-time champions China and even a defeat in that game should keep them ahead of Malaysia for the next round unless the latter defeat Qatar.
An 11-5 run at the start of the second quarter provided the turnaround for India. Gurvinder Gill’s 24 points with 17 rebounds led the way for India with Mahipal Singh adding a further 22 points.
Despite a working day, several Filipinos filled the Gharafa arena to support their kids, who were playing against Jordan in the first match of the day.
And the boys enthralled their supporters well as they gave a dominating performance to beat Jordan 85-60 in their first outing of the championship.
Ranbill Angelo Tongco led the Philippines as he scored 24 points, going 11 of 17 from the field. Joshua Andrei Caracut added 11 points, three rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Paul Desiderio, a member of the U-17 squad, and Manuel Isidro Mosqueda added 10 points each.
Philippines finished the first quarter by a single point lead (14-13), but they were in their elements in the second quarter as they were leading 44-26 at the half. They exploded for 30 points in the second period while limiting Jordan to only 13.
Almost the same scenario played out in the third quarter as Philippines scored 28 points while limiting Jordan to 13 points again. They held a 72-39 lead heading into the final quarter. Philippines will play South Korea in the continuation of the preliminary round today.
As Group B has only three teams—Korea, Philippines and Jordan—two will qualify for the second group stage.
Only two of the 14 teams in the tournament will be eliminated after the first three days of competition.
Iran, who finished third in the last edition, defeated Kuwait 132-43 in another one-sided affair of the day.
Iran scored the first 12 points of the game and never looked in trouble. Alireza Ghamari, with 22 points, was the highest scorer with Abdolsamad Soroodi chipping in with 20 points.
Japan also registered 96-71 victory over Hong Kong. Taichi Aoki scored 19 points for Japan.