HUZHOU, China, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Taipei made history by edging Qatar 18-16 to claim the men's 3x3 basketball gold, while China crushed Mongolia 21-12 to retain their women's 3x3 basketball title at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sunday.

Qatar enjoyed an 8-1 start before Chinese Taipei took a 9-4 run to narrow the deficit to two points at 12-10. Chiang Chun made one point as Chinese Taipei levelled the scores at 16-16 with 28 seconds left. Lin Sin-kuan made two crucial free throws in the last nine seconds to seal the victory.

"I'll give credit to ourselves for keeping go on," said Wang Jhe-yu of Chinese Taipei.

"We are one of the youngest teams here, and we lack the experience of some of the other teams. We made some bad plays, but we did try our best, that's what matters," said Qatar's Ahmad Mohamad.

It looked as if China women's 3x3 basketball team might face a tough challenge after Mongolia's Ariuntsetseg Bat-Erdene scored two points with a long-range effort, but they were unable to find much attacking rhythm.

Wan Jiyuan and Chen Mingling scored consecutive points in the paint to help China pull away after the game was tied at 6-6. Meanwhile, Mongolia quickly reached seven fouls, gifting China free throw opportunities.

Wan made two free throws with one minute and 39 seconds remaining to seal the win for China. Wan grabbed a game-high nine points, followed by Chen's five points.

"We won this precious gold medal on the National Day, which is a special honor for us. I am really delighted that my parents came to cheer for me," said Wan Jiyuan, who scored a game-high nine points.

"It was a really tough game. We made a few mistakes, but we are happy to have made it to the final and claim the silver medal," Mongolia's Bat-Erdene said.

Elsewhere, Mongolia edged South Korea 21-20 to grab the men's bronze medal, while Japan thrashed Chinese Taipei 21-13 to finish third in women's 3x3 basketball competition. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)