Taiwan’s national team yesterday surprised defending champions South Korea with a 77-64 victory in Nagano, Japan, to win the International Basketball Federation’s East Asia Basketball Championship crown for the first time.
South Korea, looking to extend their run of three consecutive titles, began the stronger side, going ahead 20-15 in the first quarter.
However, Taiwan reversed the deficit in the second quarter, with point guard Liu Cheng and center Quincy Davis leading the charge for a 39-34 scoreline at the intermission.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan put up a solid defense and gradually asserted their dominance, outscoring South Korea 38 to 30 in the second half for a 13-point margin of victory.
Liu and Davis combined for 44 points, while captain Tsai Wen-cheng and point guard Chiang Yu-an also dialed in outstanding performances.
Liu found his scoring touch to finish with a game-high 23 points, while adding four rebounds and two assists.
Davis, a US-born naturalized Republic of China citizen, also had a good day at the office, scoring 21 points to go with 14 rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot.
South Korea power forward Heo Il-young and center Lee Jong-hyun gave a losing effort their best, netting 18 and 13 points respectively.
Taiwan head couch Chou Chun-san praised the team’s all-round effort.
“We faced stiff competition from the [South] Koreans in the opening quarter, but we held on and played our game. We turned it around with our defense, while making field goals when we needed them,” Chou said after the game.
“The leadership provided by veterans Tsai Wen-cheng, Wu Tai-hao and Quincy Davis — who helped the younger players gel as a team — was a critical factor for today’s match and winning the tournament,” he added.
At the start of the tournament, most Taiwanese fans had given up hope for even a decent finish after the national team was blown away 96-63 by China in their opening match.
They regrouped in the second game to defeat Hong Kong 92-57 and upset hosts Japan 78-75 in the semi-final before yesterday’s massive victory over South Korea.
“That 33-point opening loss to China was unsettling and had shaken our confidence, but we got back on track to win games,” Davis said.
“In this championship final we were facing the South Koreans, who are capable of scoring over 100 points in a match. Together we held them to under 70 points; that is a very proud achievement for our team,” he added.
Hosts Japan salvaged some pride by pounding China 76-58 to take third place in front of home fans in Nagano.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought
RSS