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.
