SURAT THANI, Thailand (20th FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women): Having won all their three previous games, Chinese Taipei suffered their first defeat against the might of last edition’s silver medalists China in Level I on Friday.
The 106-55 result which China achieved left both the teams locked 3-1 in win-loss.
China, on Sunday play, Malaysia. Taipei have the tougher task of playing defending champions Japan.
“This definitely was one of the better games so far for us,” China coach Wang Guizhi said.
Gao Song was on a song as usual, with a 16-point return, but more importantly Li Meng found form.
Li, the star of China’s gold medal triumph at the 1st FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women at Pune last year
Wang gave all her players a feel of the court – each of them for more than 10 minutes. And all of them scored.
“Great team work,” beamed Wang.
“The score line is definitely deceptive. We had to earn each of our point. And the important point is we earned them well,” she said.
Taipei coach Chen Mei-Li said: “It was a quality opposition after all.”
“Our shooters struggled throughout. And by the time we could sort it out, our defense got weakened,” she said.
Chang Chi-fang was Taipei’s highest scorer with 15 points.