Disappointing finish for Taiwan women’s NT in Guangzhou

Taiwan women’s NT nearly overcame a 18-point deficit but came up short in the end, losing to Japan 73-61 in the bronze medal game in the 2010 Guangzhou Asiad, which concluded on Nov. 27.

Down 30-22 at the half, Taiwan trailed by as many as 42-24 before Liu Chun-yi scored 11 straight and Wen Chi made a pair of threes to make the score 55-43 entering the final period.

Taiwan  rallied behind a 15-0 run to take a three-point lead, 58-55. However, it managed to score three more points in the final six and a half minutes.

Taiwan failed to win a medal after securing a silver in 2006 and a bronze in 2002.

Wen Chi and Liu Chun-yi scored 21 each. Liu pulled down seven rebounds. Center Tsai Pei-chen had nine points, four steals and three blocks.

Chiang Feng-chun, who always played well against Japan, had a disappointing game, scoring two points on 1-for-6 shooting and committing six turnovers.

Japan was led by Nagi Yoko’s 26 points.

One thing to note, there was no player on Taiwan’s women’s NT this year coming from the perennial champion Cathay Life, which did not play in the 2010 WSBL season over its protest of Chunghwa Telecom’s controversial recruitment of Chiang Feng-chun.

Taiwan men’s basketball setback in Guangzhou goes unnoticed

Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) Taiwan men’s national basketball team dropped out of the quarterfinal this week, losing to the Philippines and finishing with one win and four losses in the preliminary round of the competition at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

However, the loss was not widely reported in Taiwan, as it appeared to have been overshadowed by the controversial disqualification of Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun, an issue that has been the center of media attention for the past week.

Huang Chao-he, secretary-general of the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA), said that the association was expecting non-stop calls from disgruntled fans the day after Taiwan lost 82-73 to the Philippines on Nov. 22.

However, the CTBA did not get any irate calls, despite the fact that it was the first time that Taiwan was knocked out of the final eight in Asiad men’s basketball.

Yang’s return to Taipei from Guangzhou on Nov. 23 probably eclipsed the basketball team’s loss, Huang said.

But while the CTBA may have gained some breathing space, it still has to figure out why its men’s team won only one game — against India — and lost to Japan, Qatar, Iran and the Philippines, Huang said.

The 2010 Taiwan’s men’s national basketball team was hampered by the absence of 2.04-meter starting center Tseng Wen-ting, who skipped the event because of injury.

The team’s poor showing marred the debut of Taiwan head coach Zhang Xulei, who grew up in China and played for the Chinese national team in his 20’s, and was a setback for the CTBA in its plan to nurture local coaches.

South Korean head coach Chung Kwang-suk led Taiwan to fifth place in the 2009 FIBA Asia men’s basketball championship, its best finish in the tournament since 1999.

Asian Games: Taiwan out of quarterfinals

Taiwan men’s NT lost to Iran and the Philippines to finish 1-4 in the preliminaries and was out of the Asian Games quarterfinal round.

Taiwan lost to the Philippines 82-73 in a battle for the quarterfinal berth on Monday. Lin Chih-chieh had a team-high 21 points while Wu Tai-hao added 20. Lee Hsueh-lin tallied 19 points and 9 rebounds.

Tien Lei, who was bothered by his sprained ankle did not score in 14 minutes.

On Sunday, Taiwan made 12 threes and forced Iran to 22 turnovers but was unable to stop Iranian center A. Kardoustpoustinsaraei, who tallied 22 points and 16 points, in a 73-72 loss.

Taiwan still had the chance to win. However, Tien Lei, Taiwan’s go-to man for the second straight game, failed to knock down the potential winning shot. Tien, who also failed to make the final shot in the game vs. Qatar, said after the game that he was fouled in the last possession but didn’t get the whistle.

Lin Chih-chieh led the team with 22 points. Wu Tai-hao had 12 and Lee Hsueh-lin had 10. Taiwan was outrebounded 34-16.

Men’s Standing:
Group E
China 5-0
South Korea 4-1
Jordan 3-2
North Korea 2-3
Mongolia 1-4
Uzbekistan 0-5

Group F
Japan 4-1
Iran 4-1
Philippines 3-2
Qatar 3-2
Taiwan 1-4
India 0-5

Quarterfinals:
South Korea vs. Philippines
Japan vs. North Korea
Iran vs. Jordan
China vs. Qatar

Women’s Standings:
Group A
China 3-0
South Korea 2-1
Thailand 1-2
India 0-3

Group B
Japan 2-0
Taiwan 1-1
Maldives 0-2

Semifinals:
Japan vs. South Korea
China vs. Taiwan

(Photos: Liberty times, UDN.com)

Subpar performance for Taiwan so far in Guangzhou Asiad

Taiwan women’s NT lost to Japan 69-59 Saturday after routing Maldives 127-23 in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

It’s almost certain that Taiwan will meet Group A leader, either China or South Korea, in the Nov. 24 semifinal match with a runner-up finish in Group B behind Japan, which will meet A2 in the semis.

Chiang Feng-chun led Taiwan in the losing effort with 16 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. Wen Chi had 14 points and Liu Chun-yi added 10 points.

Japan was led by Yuko Oga’s 15 points and six assists. Maki Takada and Hiromi Suwa scored 12 each.

Women’s Standings:

Group A
China 2-0
South Korea 2-0
Thailand 0-2
India 0-2

Group B
Japan 1-0
Taiwan 1-1
Maldives 0-1

Meanwhile, Taiwan men’s NT lost 72-70 to Qatar Friday and is now tied 1-2 with the Philippines in Group E. Looks like Taiwan and the Philippines will have to fight for the last quarterfinal seed in the group.

Lu Cheng-ju was 5 of 7 from three and scored 23 points to pace Taiwan, which also received 18 points from Tien Lei and 11 from Lin Chih-chieh.

Lu made two threes in the third period to cut the deficit to one and scored 11 to help Taiwan close in the gap again in the final quarter. Trailing 69-68, Tien Lei was stripped of the ball on his baseline drive as Taiwan failed to score on its last possession.

Without center Tseng Wen-ting, Taiwan was pounded on the boards, outrebounded 44-29 by Qatar.

Targuay Alban Ngombo led Qatar with 23 points and 11 rebounds while veteran Yaseen Musa had 15 and 12.

The quarterfinal round will use a knock-out format with F4 meets E1, for example.

Men’s Standings:

Group E
China 3-0
South Korea 3-0
Jordan 2-1
Mongolia 1-2
North Korea 0-3
Uzbekistan 0-3

Group F
Japan 3-0
Iran 2-1
Qatar 2-1
Taiwan 1-2
Philippines 1-2
India 0-3

(Photo: Liberty times)

Taiwan 1-1 in Asian Games men’s basketball

Taiwan had an easy 93-66 win over India after losing to Japan 63-57 in the opener to split its first two games of the 2010 Asian Games men’s basketball competition in Guangzhou, China.

On Wednesday, Lin Chih-chieh had 23 points and Tien added 20 in the rout. Yang Ching-min scored 13 pooints and point guard Lee Hsueh-lin dished out 10 assists to go with five points.

India was led by Jagdeep Singh’s 22 points.

Taiwan was not so fortunate the previous night, when it committed 15 turnovers against Japan, which took advantage of Taiwan’s carelessness for 14 fastbreak points. Japan also dominated the paint, scoring 44 points in the restricted area against Taiwan’s 24.

Taiwan managed to pull within 24-23 at the half after a dismal first quarter, during which it only scored seven points. However, the team could not match up against the more prepared Japanese inside, especially after losing starting center Tseng Wen-ting, who didn’t go to Guangzhou with the team due to injury.

Ryota Sakurai scored nine of his 12 points in the crucial fourth quarter to lift Japan for the victory. Joji Takeuchi paced the team with 15 points and 13 rebounds while his twin brother Kosuke Takeuchi also had a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards.

Yuta Tabuse had 10 points for the winner.

Taiwan has to finish in the top four of the six-team Group F to advance to the knockout quarterfinal round. After the loss to Japan, it needs to beat at least one team among Qatar, Iran and the Philippines to ensure the knockout round berth.

Asian Games standings as of Nov. 17

Group E
South Korea 2-0
China 2-0
Jordan 1-1
Mongolia 101
North Korea 0-2
Uzbekistan 0-2

Group F
Japan 2-0
Qatar 1-1
Taiwan 1-1
Iran 1-1
Philippines 1-1
India 0-2

(Photos: Liberty Times)

Final roster of Taiwan men’s NT for Asian Games announced

CTBA announced the final roster of Taiwan men’s national team for Guangzhou Asian Games Friday and said that the team will meet Liaoning, which is visitiing Taiwan, on Oct. 27 in a friendly game before leaving for China on Oct. 28 for a seires of warmup games.

Taiwan NT will meet the Philippines NT, North Korea NT and Guangdong Dongguan of China’s CBA in Guangdong and return to Taiwan on Nov. 2.

Wu Feng-cheng, Chien Chia-hung, Chang Chih-feng and Cheng jen-wei were dropped from the 16-man roster.

Yang Chin-min 1984.1.22 188 85 Taiwan Beer
Lee Hsueh-lin 1984.1.31 176 75 Yulon
Chen Shih-nian 1984.4.8 180 76 Taiwan Beer
Chen Shun-hsiang 1985.5.25 190 90 Bank of Taiwan
Hung Chih-shan 1985.7.5 176 75 Pure Youth
Lu Cheng-ju 1986.4.13 194 88 Yulon
Mao Chia-en 1982.11.16 196 90 Pure Youth
Tien Lei 1983.6.1 202 100 Dacin
Wu Tai-hao 1985.2.7 202 100 Taiwan Beer
Tseng Wen-ting 1984.7.6 203 90 Yulon
Lin Chih-chieh 1982.6.11 192 95 Taiwan Beer
Chou Po-chen 1990.8.8 196 94 University

Head coach: Zhang Xuelei
Assistants: Chiu Chi-yi, Wei Yung-tai

Taiwan NT training camp for Asian Games starts

Taiwan NT opened its training camp for the Guanzhou Asian Games Tuesday in Taipei with Chang Chih-feng and Cheng Jen-wei withdrew from the team due to injuries.

The 16-man team is now down to 14 players. Only 10 players showed up for the first practice Tuesday, however, according to the Liberty Times.

Lin Chih-chieh returned to Zhejiang, China to be with his club. Tseng Wen-ting and Tien Lei were absent for personal reasons. Chou Po-cheng was in China for training with his NTNU unversity team. Point guard Lee Hsueh-lin did attend the practice but will join Beijing Ducks on Sept. 25 to prepare for the new season.

Taiwan NT is scheduled to leave for China early October for a warmup series in which it will meet CBA teams, including Beijing, Liaoning and Bayi. Head coach Zhang Xuelei said the team will play at least 10 geames in China before returning to Taiwan on Oct. 20. Lee and Lin will join the team afteer Oct. 20, Zhang said.

Zhang said that the "Big Four" of Tseng Wen-ting, Tien Lei, Lin Chih-chieh and Wu Tai-hao will make the final roster as well as three guards including Lee Hsueh-lin, Chen Shih-nian and Hung Chih-shan. Which means that the other players will have to fight for the remaining five open spots, Liberty Times reported.

Zhang said he was glad to see Wu Tai-hao, who has been rehabbing his left knee since April, is returning to form. The first phase of the training camp from Sept. 21 – Oct. 4 will focus on conditioning, he said. He will try to come up with the best roster during the second phase in China before the final phase in Taipei.

"We will bring our best team in its best condition to Guzngzhou, " Zhang was quoted as saying.

(Photo: Liberty Times)

Taiwan’s 16-man roster for Asian Games women’s basketball announced

Tsai Pei-chen 1984.5.27 186 80
Chang Hsiao-yu 1984.3.1 183 72
Liu Yi-chun 1986.3.12 183 80
Yen Chia-hsuan 1988.3.30 185 75
Liu Chun-yi 1981.1.23 180 81
Lin Chi-wen 1983.8.19 186 72
Chiang Feng-chun 1981.10.25 184 80
Wen Chi 1984.10.15 170 62
Wu Shin-ying 1987.2.6 176 76
Huang Ping-jen 1989.11.6 177 71
Ma Yi-hung 1980.11.27 176 65
Hsu Chien-hui 1989.9.10 171 60
Chang Shih-chieh 1986.3.16 171 56
Peng Szu-chin 1991.11.9 163 55
Li Wan-ting 1986.12.23 181 68
Huang Fan-shan 1987.9.29 172 64

Head coach: Lin Chien-ping
Assistants: Chien Te-yin, Chou Hung-yu