Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Taiwan loses to Iran in Asian U18 men's basketball tournament

Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) Taiwan lost to defending champions Iran 56-67 in overtime in the opening game of the 2010 FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Men Wednesday in Sanaa, Yemen.

Taiwan was trailing by 15 points in the second quarter but bounced back to take a six-point lead in the last three minutes of the game, and at the end of regulation time, the score was tied 51-51, Taiwan head coach Huang Wan-lung said by telephone.

However, in overtime play, three of Taiwan's main players -- Hu Lung-mao, Hung Kang-chao and Chen Ying-chun -- all fouled out of the game, Huang said. The height advantage of the Iranian players proved a problem for the Taiwan players, and the game ended 67-56 in favor of Iran, he added.

Taiwan, which dropped to ninth place in 2008 after finishing fourth in 2006 in the biennial tournament, is scheduled to meet Malaysia Thursday and Sri Lanka Friday to complete the preliminary round.

The Taiwan team is seen likely to place second in the Group A, behind Iran.

In the preliminary round, the 16 participating teams are pooled in groups of four. The top three teams in each of the four groups will advance to the second round, where they will be divided into groups of six teams each.

In the second round, each team will carry forward the results against the other qualifying teams. The top four teams in each group will qualify for the quarterfinals, after which it becomes a knockout competition. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc