Sunday, May 27, 2001

Semi : No Surprise, Australia Meet China in Finals

The result surprises no one. Australia and China routed opponents in the East Asia Games semifinals on May 26 and will meet in the title game as most observers predicted. Taiwan, which lost the semi 75-121 to the Aussies, will have a rematch with hosting team Japan in the third-place game. Japan lost to China 69-86 in the semi.

China handled the Japanese with ease as head coach Wang Fei distributed playing times among all players. Lee Nan scored a team-high 23 points and 8 rebounds. Chang Wen-chi had 16 points. Yao Ming had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 8 blocks in limited minutes. Another big man Wang Zhi-zhi did not play because of ankle injury. Takuma Watanabe led japan with 12 points.

With no hope defeating Australia and the important third-place game coming, Taiwan NT head coach Chien Yi-fei decided to put the leading scorer Chen Hsin-an on the bench for the whole game and send in his second unit. SG Yang Yu-min led Taiwan NT with 22 points. 18 year-old sensation Tien Lei again turned in a solid game with 19 points and 5 rebounds. Chiu Chi-yi had 14. High school sophomore Wu Dai-hao collected 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Glen Saville led Australia with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Scott McGregor had 21 points.