Day one Round-Up: FIBA Asia U16 Women Championship

PUNE (FIBA Asia U16 Women Championship): China and Korea began their quest to emulate their male counterparts and won their opening encounters without raising much sweat in the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Women Championship at the Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex on Monday.

The men U16 teams from China and Korea had only on Friday earned the right to represent FIBA Asia in the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship with a gold-silver finish in the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship at Johor Bahru.

Now, the U16 women from China and Korea have begun a similar quest to represent FIBA Asia in the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women to be held in France.

China towered over Hong Kong literally and breezed through for a 137-28 win in Group A, after Korea had kickstarted the proceedings of the Championship handing a 78-58 defeat to Thailand in Group B.

In other Group A action, Chinese Taipei downed Singapore 147-20 and hosts India overcame initial hiccups to beat a spirited Philippines 91-64.

In Group B, Sri Lanka found Japan too hot, failing to reach even double figures and Malaysia kept the SEABA flag flying beating Kazakhstan 78-54.

Group A: India down Philippines; China, Taipei have it easy

Zhang Liting, at 199 cms the tallest player of the Championship, was the leader in the Chinese rampage with 26 points.

China outscored their rivals 23-6 in the first five minutes of the game and played for time for the remainder.

Chinese Taipei too won in a similar fashion.

Chen Tsai-hsin 21 and Chang Chi-fang 20 played with gusto and there was no trouble throughout for Taipei.

The most interesting – and intense for the entire first half – game in the Group came involving the hosts and Philippines.

India, playing in front of an obviously vociferous crowd after a colourful Opening Ceremony, stuttered and were scattered in their defense in the first two quarters.

Consequently, Philippines kept breathing close on India’s heels, till the Indian defense rallied around. From a even-keeled 31-all, India broke away on a 9-0 run to close the first half 40-31 ahead and never looked back.

Group B: No problems for Japan, Korea; Malaysia win

Korea started with a show of strength, which only grew as the game progressed.

Korea took the first five minutes to test the waters but broke away in the latter part of the first quarter – outscoring their SEABA rivals 12-6 to close the first ten minutes 20-14 ahead.

A lead that only widened during the remainder of the game.

Korea shot an incredible 91% in field attempts (32/35), including converting eight of their 10 three-pointer attempts.

Japan followed their fellow East Asian team’s footsteps, in fact going a couple of steps ahead in their emphatic win over Sri Lanka.

Erina Sugawara was the leader of the Japanese scoring with 25 points. All the 12 Japanese players got a feel of the court and 11 of them scored, six of them in double-digits.

Malaysia and Kazakhstan fought evenly early in the game and the latter seemed to nudge ahead with their taller frames standing them in good stead.

But Malaysia, as is the wont of all their National teams, adapted a swift and speedy approach and caught their Middle Asian rivals off-guard time and again with some brisk pick-and-rolls.

Scores

Group A

China 137 (Zhang Liting 26, Yang Liwei 18, Cui Hongyang 15, Shen Yi 14, Yang Xi 11, Yu Dong 10) bt Hong Kong 28. Quarterwise Scores: 37-6, 72-11, 106-16.

Chinese Taipei 147 (Chen Tsai-hsin 21, Chang Chi-fang 20, Kuo Chia-wen 16, Yang Jung 15) bt Singapore 20. Quarterwise Scores: 41-3, 76-11, 116-17, 147-20

India 91 (Sneha Rajguru 24, Navneetha 22, Amruta Bhuskute 18, Kavita Akula 13) bt Philippines 64 (Trisha Piatos 15, Jacqueline Tanaman 13, Tara Araneta 11). Quarterwise Scores: 21-15, 40-31, 65-50.

Group B

Korea 78 (Yujin Jeong 16, Eunsil Choi 13, Daejeong Park 11, Kyelee Kang 10, Eunji Kim 10) bt Thailand 58 (Punnida Arjsri 18, Thidaporn Maihom 13, Pornnutcha Sawatong 16, Thitima Chalieolerdaumpon 11). Quarterwise Scores: 20-14, 34-24, 53-38.

Japan 120 (Erina Sugawara 25, Rie Izumita 18, Rina Hill 12, Evelyn Mawuli 11, Manami Fujioka 10, Moeka Nagaoka 10) bt Sri Lanka 9. Quarterwise Scores: 38-4, 64-5, 89-9.

Malaysia 78 (Ooi Poh Yee 24, Yap Fook Yee 19, Lee Jo Rynn 14) bt Kazakhstan 54 (Natalya Yakovitskaya 13, Olessya Kanaikina 12, Marina Petukhova 12). Quarterwise Scores: 21-19, 46-29, 59-41.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia