Thursday, July 26, 2001

Day 6: East/West Asia Split 4 Semi Seeds

China and South Korea each stormed into the semi of the ABC Championship as expected with a perfect 3-0 record in the quarterfinals. Little did everyone expect Syria and Lebanon make it to the final four. Lebanon beat Japan 83-73 to secure the second seed in Group I, while Syria upset Qatar 80-68 in Group II to advance.

This marks the first time in ABC Championship history that two nations from middle east region advance to the semifinals. China will meet Syria and South Korea takes on Lebanon in the crossover semifinals.

In the classification games, Qatar will meet Japan for 5th place, Taiwan and India fight for 7th. Uzbekistan and UAE will meet in the 9th place game, Hong Kong and Kuwait will fight for 11th, while Thailand and Singapore fight for 13th.

China 100-71 Taiwan
Taiwan head coach Lee Yun-kwang's " 2-1-2 " zone defense was not enough to contain China's "Multiple Towers". China used their height advantage with consecutive 11-0 and 13-0 runs. Before halftime, the score was already 61-33 and out of reach.

China received 19 points from Gong Xiao-bin and 17 points from Lee Nan. "Twin Towers" Yao Ming had 14 and 7 in 26 minutes while Wang Zhi-zhi only had 2 points in limited action. Taiwan was led by Yang Yu-min's 18 points (4-6 3-PT). Tien Lei and Chou Hong-yu scored 11 apiece, with Tsun Wen-ding and Chen Chih-chung each had 8 points.

South Korea 97-76 India
South Korea's firing squad put on another show yesterday, making 19 three-pointers out of 47 tries to slash the Indians 97-76. Yang Kyung-min followed his 7-9 outburst in the previous day with 6-10 performance. Cho Sung-won made 5 out of 13 and Kim Byung-chul also made three three-point shots.

Lebanon 83-73 Japan
Lebanon won the three-point shootout with the Japanese and advanced to the semi with an 83-73 win. Lebanon made 11 of 22 three-point attempts while Japan made 12 of 31. Fadi Khatib paced Lebanon with 24 points, Joe Vogel followed with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Japan was led by Masaki Goto's 24 points (4-7 3-PT).

▓Quarterfinal Score
South Korea 97-76 India
Lebanon 83-73 Japan
Syria 80-68 Qatar
China 100-71 Taiwan

▓Quarterfinal Standings
Group I
China 3-0 *
Lebanon 2-1 *
Japan 1-2
Taiwan 0-3

Group II
South Korea 3-0 *
Syria 2-1 *
Qatar 1-2
India 0-3
(* - Advance to semifinals)

▓Classification Score
Kuwait 77-55 Thailand
Uzbekistan 76-75 Hong Kong