Chinese Taipei upsets China at FIBA Asian women's U-18 basketball championship

Chinese Taipei registered a hugely impressive 74-61 victory over World No.4 and 16-time champion China in a Group-A contest.

Yu Lan Chang of Chinese Taipei in action against China during a FIBA U-18 Women’s Asian Championship Division A match at Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on September 7, 2022. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN

Chinese Taipei produced one of the biggest upsets of the FIBA Asian women’s U-18 basketball championship (Division A) at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Wednesday, with a hugely impressive 74-61 victory over World No.4 and 16-time champion China in a Group-A contest. The last time Taipei defeated China was 20 years ago in the Asia u-18 championship in 2002 in Taipei.

The remaining three matches went according to the script with higher-ranked teams scripting wins. Japan thrashed Indonesia 117-35, Australia beat New Zealand 111-44 and Korea got the better of host India 69-47.

There was no indication of Taipei’s level of play in the first quarter (10-25). Though it put up a relatively better show in the second (31-36), it was only in the third quarter that Taipei took the game away from the Asian powerhouse and 16-time champion.

Showing excellent defensive capabilities and consistent shooting, Taipei scored 25 points in the third while China could manage just eight in the same period (56-44). “It is a historic moment. I told the players to use the wide spaces,” said Mei-Li Chen, the head coach of Taipei.

Despite the defeat, India would be satisfied with the way it played. Especially in the last two quarters, India showed spunk and aggression which was missing in its previous match against Australia.

The results:

Div. A: Group-A:

Australia 111 (Sophie Borrows 14, Dallas Loughridge 12, Nyadiew Puoch 11, Isobel Borlase 16, Isla Juffemans 12) bt New Zealand 44 (Florence Dallow 10); Korea 69 (Sol Kim 15, Seoyeon Ko 14, Seongjin Park 10) bt India 47 (Yashneet Kaur 13). Group B:

Japan 107 (Chinami Yokoyama 12, Saki Furuya 12, Msaki Sasaka 17, Mnami Takaki 11, Honoka Mbrioka 13, Mnami Yabu 11) bt Indonesia 35; Chinese Taipei 74 (Yu Lan Chang 18, Yu Wein Hsiao 15, Chin Hua Yu 13) bt China 61 (Duoling Hu 10, Wenxia Li 21, Qinyang Li 15).