While most eyes were on Greece’s match with bitter historical rivals Turkey on Tuesday, the real excitement was taking place in Group D, with Lithuania rallying from an 18-point deficit to beat Spain 76-73.
Down 64-55 at the beginning of the final quarter, Jonas Maciulis (13 points) turned the tempo with two steals leading to two massive dunks.
The momentum continued to build, with Lithuania tying the score twice (66-66, 71-71), before Linas Kleiza (17 points, 8 rebounds) finally claimed the lead for the Lithuanians with 21.2 seconds remaining, leading to scenes of jubilation at the Halkapinar Arena.
They would not let the lead slip, pulling off the unlikeliest of victories.
“I am really proud to win this game. It was a heck of a game and I am so happy for our boys to be able to come back,” an exhausted Martynas Pocious (13 points) said.
The game against Greece was the game all Turkish fans had been waiting for, with their team able to deliver, upsetting the Greeks 76-65 on the back of an inspired performance from Ersan Ilyasova, who top-scored for the Turks with 26 points.
Earlier in the day, Russia were made to fight hard for their victory over the Ivory Coast, winning by just six points, 72-66. Evgeny Voronov was top scorer for the Russians with 19.
After the game, Russia coach David Blatt, who yesterday announced this would be his last tournament in charge, admitted his team are under strength in Turkey.
“We don’t have the kind of team that can win a medal, but we have the kind of team that can fight hard and make the people at home proud,” he said.
In the only other Group C match, a poor rebounding effort from China, grabbing just 29 compared with Puerto Rico’s 44, would again prove costly as the Puerto Ricans pulled out to an eventual 84-76 victory.
Yi Jianlian again carried China with 24 points, while Angel Vassallo top-scored with 22 for Puerto Rico.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand started Group D action, needing to beat Lebanon to have any realistic chance of moving through to the round-of-16.
The game held extra significance as former New Zealand coach Tab Baldwin came up against his former side for the first time. It was not to be a happy night for Baldwin, with New Zealand running riot over his Lebanese side 108-76.
The tournament’s top point scorer to date, Kirk Penney, again led the point scoring with 26.
Baldwin was gracious in defeat, complimenting the opposition.
“It is the most polished performance I have ever seen from a New Zealand side,” he said.
The second game of the day in Group D could not have been a bigger contrast to the first as the French struggled against a determined Canada, only claiming the lead late to win 68-63.
Nicolas Batum was the only Frenchman to break double figures, finishing with 24 points.
It is the second close game to go against the Canadians and they need to find something special in their remaining two games to avoid going home early.
One shining light for the Canadians was the performance of 19-year-old Kelly Olynyk, who claimed 13 points, after playing for just eight seconds in Canada’s opening two games.
Olynyk’s teammate Levon Kendall was full of praise for the youngster after the game.
“He [Olynyk] was great. He shows a lot of courage for his guy his age. Hopefully, he can now do it on a consistent basis,” Kendall said.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set