Unable to overcome an obvious size disadvantage, Taiwan fell victims to an Iran squad that have three players taller than 2.1m in a 72-67 loss at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night, to fall to a 4-3 record.
Coming into the contest as heavy underdogs, the Islanders surprised the sellout crowd by playing the visitors tough. With Lin “The Beast” Chih-jeh downing nine of his team’s first 11 points, the home hosts actually led Iran for nearly half of the first quarter before settling for a 17-all tie.
Neither team would lead by more than two, with Tsai Wen-cheng and Tien Lei doing their best against Iran’s triple threat — Hamed Haddadi (2.18m), Oshin Sahakian (2m) and Mohammad Samad Nikkhah Bahrami (1.98m) before the visitors went on a 5-1 run in the final four minutes to close out the half with a 36-32 lead.
A balanced attack by Iran, coupled with several unforced turnovers on the part of Taiwan, quickly gave the visitors a double-digit advantage that grew to 16 points in the third.
Even though Taiwan managed to pull within two midway through the fourth with Tseng and Tien championing an 11-0 run, that was as close as they got, as Iran answered with a 7-0 run of their own in the next three minutes to put the game away.
US 109, Lebanon 66
Team US took an early 28-9 lead over Lebanon after one quarter of play and never looked back, as they went on to defeat Lebanon 109-66 in the first game in Sinjhuang yesterday afternoon.
With the announcement of Lebanon’s suspension from all international competitions by the tournament official, the game was scored a 20-0 win by the US.
Inability to resolve some issues between two teams back home led to the sanction imposed by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on Lebanon. They were forced to forfeit all the games they had played so far, including today’s scheduled match against Iran.
Egypt 81, Guan Hua 69
Team Guan Hua gave Egypt a scare through three quarters of play as they overcame a double-digit deficit in the third and actually led it briefly before faltering in the fourth to lose 81-69.
Liu Cheng and Chang Chia-jung combined for 44 of Guan Hua’s 69 points to lead a young Taiwanese squad, while Egypt’s Ibrahim El Gammal led all scorers with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
In other play, it was:
‧ Jordan 74, Japan 65
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
BRING THE NOISE: Brazil’s Fonseca attracted a boisterous crowd that brought such dominant soccer-style energy the referee switched to Portuguese to ask for quiet Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Monday put an end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca’s challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest. Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout the day, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca’s match, complete with Brazilian flags and soccer-style chanting. Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with blistering forehands and a partisan crowd. Such was the dominance of Fonseca’s raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet. However, De
RSS