2013 FIBA Asia U16 Championships Roundup: Day Four

The second group stage of the 2013 FIBA Asia U16 Championships in Tehran, Iran opened with a HUGE upset as Bahrain defeated heavily-favored Korea, while the Filipinos bounced back with a win over Jordan.

Jordan's Khaled Abu Aboud battles with Filipino
Arnie Padilla for the rebound.

In the first game of the day, China nailed its fourth straight win, more than doubling up on Malaysia, 119-52. Coach Liu Jizeng’s boys were just merciless here, outplaying Malaysia in every conceivable way and having the advantage in every major stat category. Hu Jinqiu, Zhao Yanhao, and Fu hao each scored 17 points to lead the Chinese juggernaut, while compatriots Yuan Zhenliang, Xu Mingzhi, and Wang Zixu all scored in double-figures as well. On the other end of the floor, Malaysia was led by Foo Ting Jun and Tan Wei Jie, who scored 11 points each. Malaysia now carries a 0-3 card in the second round.

The second game of the day featured the Philippines bouncing back from their previous loss to Taiwan by upending Jordan, 73-60. The Filipinos dictated the tempo throughout the game and broke the game open early in the fourth period to secure their second win in three games. Hope Christian High School’s Jollo Go led the scoring for Team Philippines with 22 points on the strength of 4 triples, while undersized big man Mike Nieto scored a dozen markers and hauled down 20 rebounds. Jolo Mendoza also did well with 14 points and 7 steals. Meanwhile, Jordan got a combined 34 points from the troika of Yazeed Hijazi, Omar Al Bdour, and Hashem Al Jadidi. Star bigman Khaled Abu Aboud was limited to just 2/7 FG shooting and only 6 markers.

The third game saw how Bahrain pulled off the biggest stunner of the tournament so far, leading the Koreans for most of the game and preserving a magnificent 82-79 victory. The Gulf side outscored its EABA opponent by 12 in the middle two quarters and successfully kept the Koreans at bay in the final frame. This is Bahrain’s second win in the tournament. They just upped their second round slate to 1-2. Mohamed Juma led them with a scintillating 31-point, 20-rebound, and 6-block effort, while Sadiq Hasan added 13 markers, 7 boards and 3 dimes. Coach Kim Do-Wan’s wards lost for only the first time in the tournament. His team was paced by the combined 52 points of Kwon Hyeok-Joon, Choi Jae-Hwa, and Park Sang-Kwon. Korea shot terribly from the floor, making just 26/83 field goals (31%).

In the day’s fourth game, Japan buried Kazakhstan, 94-74. The terrific tandem of Rui Hachimura and Hayato Maki waxed hot here. Hachimura unloaded 35 points, on 15/19 FG shooting while also having 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Meanwhile, Maki finished with 27 points, 8 boards, and 4 assists. The Japs are now 3-0 in the tournament and remain undefeated in Group F alongside Taiwan, but they take on a dangerous Filipino five next. The Kazakhs, in the meantime, were led by Konstantin Neff’s 25 points, while Zhalgasbek Kadyr added 20 of his own. Erstwhile leading scorer Leonid Voronushkin was shackled and produced just 8 markers.

In game number five, Iran improved to 2-1 in the second round after blasting fellow WABA team, Syria, 61-46. It seems coach Ali Towfigh’s boys have left the loss to Korea behind them and are now focused on winning as many games as possible before the crossover quarterfinals. Barzin Baban impressed here, scoring 13 points on top of 7 rebounds and 5 blocks, while Amirhossein Azari and Soheil Farhadi dropped 15 and 14 markers respectively. Azari, in particular, shot really well, connecting on 4 treys. On the other end, Khalel Khori and Mohamad Hadri led the losing effort of Syria with a combined 29 points and 23 rebounds. Spitfire guard Ronaldo Shammas was limited here, scoring just 5 points after missing all but two of his fourteen field goal attempts.

For the final match, the Taiwanese used a strong start to distance themselves from an energetic Indian side and race to win number three, 80-69. Not even the 34-point explosion of Mahipal Singh could derail Chinese-Taipei’s charge here. Wu Yen-Ju led Taiwan with 21 points on 8/16 FG shooting, while Sun Yung-Cheng and Huang Chien-Chih added 17 and 16 points respectively. Taiwan opened up with a 27-17 first quarter, and then extended it to an 18-point gap at the half, 52-34. Coach Hsieh Yu-Chuan’s wards never looked back after that.

BOX SCORES:

CHINA over MALAYSIA, 119-52

CHN 119 – Hu 17, Zhao 17, Fu 17, Yuan 15, Xu 13, Wang Z 12, Zhang 9, Luo 7, Liu 6, Wu 6, Wang C 0

MAS 52 – Foo 11, Tan 11, Wong 8, Chang 7, Heng 4, Lau 3, Soong 2, Yek 2, Liew 2, Rosli 2, Chong 0, Lim 0

QS: 30-16, 63-30, 95-41, 119-52

Hu Jinqiu slams one with authority.

Foo Ting Jun of Malaysia tries to shoot in traffic.

PHILIPPINES over JORDAN, 73-60

PHL 73 – Go 22, Mendoza 14, Nieto Mi 12, Nieto Ma 8, Dario 6, Navarro 4, Padilla 4, Desiderio 2, Panlilio 1, Abadeza 0, Escoto 0, Dela Cruz 0

JOR 60 – Hijazi 14, Al Bdour 10, Al Jadidi H 10, Daher M 9, Abu Aboud 6, Daher A 5, Al Abed 3, Jumean 3, Al Battikhi 0, Al Jadidi R 0

QS: 17-14, 43-31, 58-50, 73-60

Paul Desiderio faces the tall big men of Jordan.

Hashem Al Jadidi and Matt Nieto battle for the rebound.

JAPAN over KAZAKHSTAN, 94-74

JPN 94 – Hachimura 35, Maki 27, Muto 7, Taira 6, Hiraiwa 6, Kono 4, Hayashi 3, Maeta 2, Igarashi 2, Nomi 2, Gunji 0

KAZ 74 – Neff 25, Kadyr 20, Voronushkin 8, Kirilin 8, Levakovskiy 5, Satkeyev 3, Aitkali 2, Korzhov 2, Danilchenko 1, Kurochkin 0, Litvinenko 0, Tinyayev 0

QS: 33-9, 56-37, 74-55, 94-74