Day Six had plenty of excitement as down-the-wire
action was all over the place in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. Iran,
China, and Qatar had to scramble to get past their foes, while host team South
Korea had little trouble routing Jordan. The results also sealed the final
eight’s quarterfinal groupings.
Quarterfinal Group G: China, Mongolia, Iran, and Japan.
Quarterfinal Group H: Kazakhstan, South Korea, Philippines, and Qatar.
 |
| Hamed Haddadi's Iran broke the hearts of the Pinoys anew. (image by Bay Ismoyo/AFP) |
Game recaps:
CHINA over TAIWAN, 59-58
China looked to be firmly in-charge
after building a 47-35 lead in the third quarter, but the Taiwanese refused to
serve the win on a silver platter and made a big rally in the final period.
Behind the clutch shooting of Ke Chi-Hao and Lin Chih-Chieh, Taiwan rallied and
threatened to pull the rug from under the Chinese, but Gong Luming’s wards held
on to sweep Group C and advance to the next round. The dynamic duo of Wang
Zhelin and Zhou Peng scored a total of 24 points to lead the Big Red Machine.
China shot just 35% from the floor, but they compensated by outrebounding
Taiwan, 45-39. The Taiwanese surely missed naturalized player Quincy Davis, who
was ruled ineligible. They were paced by Tien Lei’s 10 markers and 3 triples.
 |
| Tseng Wen-Ting tries to box out Zhou Qi. (image from Jumpball.co.kr) |
 |
| Zhou Peng tries to drive strong against Taiwan. (image from Jumpball.co.kr) |
IRAN over PHILIPPINES, 68-63
Gilas Pilipinas seemed to be firmly
in-control after erecting a 60-53 lead with 6 minutes to go, but Team Melli
wouldn’t quit, capitalizing on the Pinoys’ numerous endgame miscues to mount a
15-3 windup and slip into the next round unbeaten. In contrast to their
performance against India, the Filipinos had a slow start here, playing from
behind most of the way until the final frame. Just like in their previous
contest, however, coach Chot Reyes’s boys were shaky in the final minutes and
allowed Iran to rally behind the great playmaking and shooting of star guard
Mahdi Kamrani. Kamrani was one of three Iranians to score in double-figures. He
dropped a dozen points, while Samad Nikkhah Bahrami had 23 markers. Hamed
Haddadi was huffing and puffing late in the fourth, but he still tallied a
double-double with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Gilas, meanwhile, was
led by Paul Lee, LA Tenorio, and Marcus Douthit, who combined to score 31
markers.
 |
| Behnam Yakhchali stumbles against the D of Gilas Pilipinas. (image by Bay Ismoyo/AFP) |
 |
| LA Tenorio tries to get past Mahdi Kamrani in their Asiad match-up. (image by Bay Ismoyo/AFP) |
SOUTH KOREA over JORDAN, 98-69
The Koreans wasted no time in
asserting their advantage over the visibly frustrated Jordanians, who certainly
didn’t expect to get bounced after just two games. Korea built a double-digit
lead in the first quarter and never looked back in this one, leading by as many
as 32 points. Wesam Al-Sous hit 5 treys to lead Al Nashama with 28 points, but
even that wasn’t enough to carry Jordan to the quarterfinals. Veterans Moon
Tae-Jong and Cho Sung-Min (combined age of 69 years) paired up to nail 9 three-pointers
and score 21 and 15 points respectively. Oh Se-Keun and Kim Joo-Sung also did
well on the boards, grabbing a total of 16 caroms. Korea next takes on
Kazakhstan in the QFs, while the Jordanians book tickets to go home.
 |
| Mohammad Shaher Hussein huffs and puffs against Korea. (image from Jumpball.co.kr) |
 |
| Moon Tae-Jong torched the Jordanians with 6 treys. (image from Jumpball.co.kr) |
QATAR over JAPAN, 72-71
Qatar leaned on a big second quarter
to put up some separation between themselves and the Japanese. Japan actually
outscored Qatar in three of the four periods, but Team Hayabusa just couldn’t
complete the comeback in the final ten minutes. Qatar’s advantage in the
rebounding department was stark, outworking the Nippon five, 40-35, with Erfan
Ali Saeed, Mohamad Yousef, and Boney Watson each grabbing 7 boards. Daoud Musa
Daoud and Saeed scored 15 and 13 points respectively, while Khalid Suliman Abdi
and Mansour El-Hadary combined to drop 22 markers. Naoto Tsuji and Kosuke
Takeuchi, meanwhile, paired up for 35 points to pace Japan, with Tsuji hitting
all five of his squad’s three-pointers.
 |
| Joji Takeuchi drives to the key against Qatar. (image from the JBA) |
 |
| Qatar celebrates its one-point squeaker over Japan. (image from DohaStadiumPlus.com) |
 |
| Takumi Ishizaki goes up strong in Japan's loss to Qatar. (image from the JBA) |
0 Comment