Talk of the day wasn’t Korea’s brilliant fight back in the match against Japan, but India’s dismay performance in the Level I competition of the 23 rd FIBA Asia women championship here at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.
On Monday, India surrendered to Thailand 67-78, to disappoint the basketball fraternity that had come to watch them play. India is yet to win a match in their pool.
India’s next meet Japan on Tuesday. Japanese who are known for their fighting spirit, a miracle could save a day from hosts.
In today’s match, after trailing in the initially stages of the game, India girls leveled the score 16-16 each. It gave the impression that they were in no mood to give up. But that ray of hope vanished as the match progressed.
Thailand cagers were good in blocking Indian skipper Geethu Anna Jose, who did bulk of scoring in the match today. Once Geethu who was equally good in rebounds, was closely marked, it had its effect on the scoreboard. As other players in the team weren’t able to convert basket as expected and frittered way chances that came their way.
After the match, India’s team coach Dinesh Mitchelle admitted that the players couldn’t play as per planned. “We had worked out strategy to score win over Thailand. But the result reflects that it didn’t work,” he said.
For Thailand Juthamas Jantakan was the main architect of team’s win.. She scored 20 points. She was assisted by Juthathip Mathuros and Suksomwong who contributed 16 points each to the team’s total.
Earlier, in an exciting match, Korean came from behind to outplay Japan 82-68 in Level I competition of the tournament.
It was Koreans brilliant shooting skills particularly from outside the circle that made all the difference in winning the game, and helped them maintain a clean slate in the tournament.
Japan made a good start and were leading by a good margin of 12 points (33-21) in the first 15-minute of the game.
Results India 67 (Geethu Anna Jose 23, Prashanti Singh 16, Anitha P 13) lost to Thailand 78 (Juthamas Jantakan 20, Juthathip Mathuros 16, Suksomwong 16).
Korea 82 (Jung eun Park 17, Kwe ryong Kim 16, Jung eun Kim 15) bt Japan 68 (Yuko Oga16, Kumiko Yamada 13, Yoshie Sakurada 13).
Match Level II
Lebanon score 78-54 win over Phillipines
Lebanon had done their homework to win this match, and emerged victorious when the long whistle blew. Today's win prop up their chance to move into the next level.
Lebanon 78 (Nayla Alemeddine 16, Chada Nasr 16, Chantelle Anderson 15) bt Phillipines 54 (Chovl Borja 21, Diana Rose Jose 11, Cassandra Tioseco 11).
Match
Malaysia beat Sri Lanka 81-45
Rinding on the brilliance performance of Siew ten Ang, Malaysia scored a comfortable win over Sri Lanka 81-45, to make an impact in Level II competition of the 23rd FIBA Asia women championship. Ang netted 19 points and assisted Beng fong Goh to swell the team's score in the second half of the contest. Goh contributed 11 points to the team's score.
Malaysia 81 (Premila Beruwalage 15, Pedige Inoka Juwan 13, Beinca Thalagala 9) bt Sri Lanka 45 (Siew teng Ang 19, Beng fong Goh 11, Suik May Kew 10)
Match
Kazakhstan outplay Uzbekistan 75-70
It was tough outing for Kazakhstan in the match against Uzbekistan, but former managed to outplay latter 75-70, to garner crucial points in the tournament. With 20 points, Natalya Kuzmicheva remained the highest scorer for eventual winner in the match.
China didn't had to exert themselves to score win over Chinese Taipei in their Level I encounter on Monday. So far, China has maintained a clean slate in the competition.
China 82 (Zengy u Ma 13, Xiaool Chen 12, Nan Chen 12) bt Chinese Taipei 54 (Jul yu Lan 22, Chun yi Liu 14, Chi wen Lin 6)
