The
Philippines went down yesterday, losing to the Taiwanese in the knockout
quarterfinals on Day 7 of the 2014 FIBA Asia U18 Championships. Batang Gilas
joins Japan, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia in the consolation round, while China,
Korea, and Iran join Taiwan in the semifinals.
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| The Final Four is set: Taiwan vs. China and Korea vs. Iran! |
SCORES & RECAPS:
Day Seven:
QATAR over KUWAIT,
84-75
Qatar
rebounded from missing the quarterfinals by beating fellow Gulf nation Kuwait.
Abdulrahman Saad flashes his great scoring form anew, dropping 36 points on 55%
FG shooting to lead the hosts, while Abdelrahman Abdelhaleem added 19 points
and 14 rebounds. Ahmed Al-Yousif and Mohamed Abed each tallied 10 markers to
underscore Qatar’s dominance in this game. The Qataris led by as many as 42
points in the third quarter. Kuwait, meanwhile, was paced by Abdullah Faraj’s
31 points. Star guard Hamad Hasan didn’t see action in this game for the
Kuwaitis.
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| Abdulrahman Saad tries a dipsy-doo shot for Qatar. |
JORDAN over HONG
KONG, 97-64
Jordan had a
fast start and never looked back in dismantling Hong Kong. The West Asians
dominated the interior here, outrebounding their East Asian rivals, 101-33
(still unsure of this staggering figure), and outscoring them, 68-22. Khaled
Abuaboud was most impressive with 16 points and 20 rebounds. Jordan saw five
other guys registering double-doubles in scoring and rebounding. Ka Chung On, meanwhile,
was the best player for the Hong Kongers with 22 markers on the strength of
five triples.
KOREA over JAPAN,
90-61
The Japanese
led after the first quarter and trailed by just two at the half, but the
Koreans turned up the jets and left Team Hayabusa in the dust in the second
half. Coach Kim Seung-Hwan’s wards shot poorly from long ranger here, making
just 3 of 14 three-pointers, but they made up for it by going down low,
outscoring the Japanese frontline, 56-30, in the paint. Korea outscored Japan,
32-7, in the third canto to open up a tight contest and led by as many as 33 in
the fourth period. Kim Kyung-Won led the victors with 18 points, 15 rebounds,
and 2 blocks, while Jang Tae-Bin tallied 15 markers and 7 assists in the
backcourt. Three Japanese players finished in double-digits here, led by the 12
points of Yuki Mikami.
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| Kim Kyung-Won dominates for the Koreans. |
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| Ryogo Sumino tries a shot from in close. |
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| Song Kyo-Chang meets resistance from the Japanese frontline. |
CHINA over KAZAKHSTAN,
106-53
The Kazakhs
hung tough for one whole quarter before getting blasted the rest of the way as
the Chinese moved on to notch their seventh win in as many games. Six Chinese
finished in double-figure scoring, led by the 19 points of Shao Yinglun, while
Zhao Rui and Zhou Qi each scored 16 markers. Only one Kazakh scored more than 9
points – Alexandr Danilchenko, who got 12. The Chinese next face the Taiwanese
in the semis.
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| Leonid Kayachev launches from long range. |
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| Shao Yinglun collars the rebound for China. |
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| Yang Kai goes up strong against Kazakhstan. |
TAIWAN over PHILIPPINES,
90-86
Speaking of
the Taiwanese, they hit the biggest shots of the game in the final minutes to
secure this huge win and eliminate Batang Gilas from top three contention. Lin
Ming-Yi hit the go-ahead three with about a minute to go to break an 86-all
deadlock and give the Taiwanese the needed breathing room to advance to the
Final Four against cross-straits rival China. Lin hit four threes in the game,
which is also the same total for Tu Su-Han and Lee Kuan-Yi. In all Taiwan hit 37%
of its threes, while Gilas connected on just 18% from rainbow country. Tu led
the winners with 23 points, while Lee and Lin had 17 and 16 markers
respectively. Mark Dyke was mightily impressive for the Philippines with a
dominant 26-point, 13-rebound double-double, but his efforts went down in vain.
US-based Kobe Paras also recorded a double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds,
and 3 blocked shots.
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| Lee Kuan-Yi torched the Pinoys with four treys. |
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| Mark Dyke's huge double-double was all for naught for Batang Gilas. |
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| Tu Su-Han's 23 points paced the victorious Taiwanese. |
IRAN over MALAYSIA,
92-36
Iran started
the game 14-0 and had no trouble at all in blowing out the Malaysians for their
sixth win in six games. The West Asians, therefore, secured the last semifinal
berth and set a critical duel with the Koreans in their next encounter. Mehyar
Mehr flirted with a triple-double in this game, scoring 6 points, handing out 9
assists, and getting 8 steals as Iran just ran roughshod all over their SEABA
foes. Abdolsamad Soroodi and Ali Allahverdi each had 13 points to lead Team
Melli in scoring. Yee Tong Heng was the lone bright spot for Malaysia with 10
points.
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| Andolsamad Soroodi pulls up over Malaysia. |
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| John Wong tries to shoot a three-pointer against Iran. |
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| Mohammad Yousofvand goes up for a slamma jamma against Malaysia. |
Images are from FIBA Asia.
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