IND - Day Two Round-Up: FIBA Asia U16 Women Championship

PUNE (FIBA Asia U16 Women Championship) - Malaysia became the fifth team - joining the East Asia quartet - to notch their second win, from as many games, in as many days as the curtain came down on Day Two of the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Women Championship at the Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex on Tuesday.

East Asian powerhouses China, Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei all had, earlier in the day, cruised along for their second win in a row.

Malaysia's fellow SEABA team Philippines, who had lost to hosts India on the opening day, were the other winners of the day.

India ran into the mighty Chinese wall, going down 37-108 after Taipei had bulldozed Hong Kong 106-34 in Group A. Philippines' 72-56 win against Singapore - also a SEABA team - also came in Group A.

Malaysia, who will play Korea in Group B on Wednesday, could conserve themselves for that big game on the morrow brooking no challenge from Sri Lanka.

Malaysia won 80-25 after the Korean efficiency had outlasted Kazakhstan's spirit 72-55. And Japan picked another win in this Group B action overpowering Thailand 103-49.

Group A: China douse hosts' hopes; Taipei, Philippines win

Li Meng was the chief controller of China's moves against India.

The Shenbu Army Basketball Club forward, one of the more all-round players on view in the Championship so far, played with a maturity that went beyond her age - a factor that ironed any nerves her similarly young colleagues might have had playing against a home crowd.

Obviously with the giant centre Zhang Liting towering over the rivals with her 199cm presence, Li Meng could find the necessary zip to the Chinese plays.

Ranjeeta Kaur made some ambitious three-pointer attempts from longer than normal to negate the height advantage that the Chinese enjoyed and found success on four of the 11 occasions.

Taipei opened up the game against Hong Kong in the latter part of the second quarter with a 17-5 blitz that launched their win.

A combination that caught the eye with their speedy offensive plays, Taipei rolled on.

The Filipinos were as spirited as ever in beating Singapore.

Patrick Aquino's girls outscored their fellow SEABA rivals 11-5 in the first quarter and hung on to post their first win.

Group B: Korea, Japan on a roll; Malaysia down Lanka

For the second day running Kazakhstan played attractively in the first quarter only to lose breath as the game progressed.

Korea led only 21-18 at the end of the first five minutes of the second quarter, but thereafter showed better cohesion and more importantly longer sustenance to outlast the Kazakhs.

Eunji Kim went for a 4/4 in two-pointers and a 4/5 in the long-rangers to lead Korea to their second win.

Natalya Popova was more frequent in her field attempts converting 10 out of 12 attempts, including a 3 / 4 in three-pointers, but her game-high 26 points didn't have enough support from her Kazakh teammates.

Porrnutcha Sawatong of Thailand was another player to return a game-high, but end on the losing side.

Sawatong's 20 points and four rebounds - another game-high - fell inadequate against the Japanese scoring machine where six players scored in double-digits.

Scores

Group A

Chinese Taipei 106 (Wang Wei-lin 17, Lin Yu-ting 15, Chang Chi-fang 14, Chen Tsai-hsin 13, Yang Jung 12) bt Hong Kong 34 (Wo Sum yee 12). Quarterwise Scores: 23-7, 57-16, 79-25.

Philippines 72 (Danica Jose 16, Elrica Castro 12, Lore Rivera 10) bt Singapore 56 (Violet Chua 17). Quarterwise Scores: 21-7, 40-28, 58-41.

China 108 (Sun Mengxin 16, Yang Xi 15, Li Meng 15, Zhang Liting 14, Ma Xueya 13, Yu Dong 12, Li Mingyang 10) bt India 37 (Ranjeeta Kaur 11). Quarterwise Scores: 29-15, 55-15, 79-20.

Group B

Korea 72 (Eunji Kim 20, Kyelee Kang 14, Hyunji Noh 13, Yeajin Cha 10) bt Kazakhstan 55 (Natalya Popova 26). Quarterwise Scores: 14-11, 38-22, 53-36.

Japan 103 (Rie Izumita 15, Yuki Ikeya 13, Erina Sugawara 13, Yume Negishi 11, Ryoka Takeda 11, Rina Hill 10) bt Thailand 49 (Porrnutcha Sawatong 20, Punnida Arjsri 10). Quarterwise Scores: 27-4, 48-17, 77-31.

Malaysia 80 (Yap Fook Yee 14, Low Phey Chi 11, Ooi Poh Yee 11, Ng Shi Yeng 10) bt Sri Lanka 25 (Jayasinghe Jayakodyarachchilage 12, Dona Rajapakse 10). Quarterwise Scores: 27-4, 47-15, 68-19.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia