China trounced Chinese Taipei 90-59 to defend the Asian Games
women's basketball title on Thursday.
Miao Lijie, a former WNBA player, ended the third quarter with
an unbelievable back-field three-pointer at the buzzer, helping
China to a 74-43 lead and turning the fourth quarter to junk
time.
"The Asian Games is part of our journey to Beijing (Olympic
Games)," said Thomas Maher, head coach of the Chinese team. "I have
never seen a team younger than us. I think we still have to improve
in many ways."
Chinese Taipei, making its first appearance in an Asian Games
final, trailed by just three points in the first quarter, but lost
all hope in the second half.
"We had thought of the loss, but never imagined such a big
loss," said Chien Wei Chuan, captain of the Chinese Taipei team,
which was defeated by just four points in its last meeting with
China in the final of the 2005 East Asian Games.
Lin Hung Ling-yao, coach of the Chinese Taipei team, expressed
her great disappointment.
"It's really discouraging," she said. "I don't think we had such
a big gap with the Chinese team."
"My team didn't perform very well. Chiang Feng Chun committed
three fouls at the early part of the first quarter, which made us
very passive in the inside," she added.
The Chinese center duo Chen Xiaoli and Chen Nan proved too
strong for their opponents, whose average height was nine
centimeters shorter than the Chinese.
Chen Xiaoli hit a game-high 21 points plus 12 rebounds while
Chen Nan added 19 points and 10 rebounds, giving both women
double-doubles.
"For me, Chen Nan is the best player of the tournament," said
Maher. "It is unbelievable to me how much she has improved."
Miao, who displayed strong personal basketball here, contributed
20 points and five assists while for Chinese Taipei, it was Lin Hui
Mei who led with 18 points.
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(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)
