Now, Taipei feast on listless India

Chinese Taipei handed India a crushing 87-58 defeat in the last Group A fixture in the Division A of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup basketball tournament here on Thursday.

Having lost all their group stage games, the Zoran Visic-coached side is at the bottom of the table and will fight in the relegation play-off match against Philippines on Friday.

Japan topped the group after destroying South Korea 102-64

Shireen Limaye was by far India’s best player, coming up with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. For Chinese Taipei, four players including Ting Lin (15), Hsiu Cheng (14), Ting Huang (13), En Han (12) reached the double figures.

Chinese Taipei were simply too quick for the hosts, who were left chasing the ball for most parts.

Five minutes into the first quarter, they led 9-6. That was the closest India came to overturning the deficit. Chinese Taipei, who were in control of the game by then, scored 19 points to finish the period at 28-10.

India did fight back in the first ten minutes of the second quarter through two-pointers from Limaye and Jeena Skaria, but it wasn’t enough as Chinese Taipei scored regularly to extend their lead. At half-time, India trailed 24-41.

Nothing changed after the break as the visitors kept up the pressure, outscoring India 22-16, and the final quarter was a mere formality as the Chinese Taipei toyed with the India before securing the victory.

Earlier, China stunned Australia 69-70 to take the top position after a thrilling Group B game.

Siyu Wang dazzled with a game-high 18 points. The guard also collected four rebounds and dished four assists. Not far behind was centre Yueru Li, who finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. For the last edition’s runners-up, Katie Ebzery was the top-performer with 13 points and three assists.

Results: Group A: Japan: 102 (Nako Motohashi 21, Ramu Tokashiki 14, Himawari Akaho 13, Maki Takada 11) bt South Korea: 61 (Leeseul Kang 12, Yeonhee Kim 12, Hyehoon Bae 10); Chinese Taipei: 87 (Ting Lin 15, Hsiu Cheng 14, Ting Huang 13, En Han 12) bt India: 58 (Shireen Limaye 13).

Group B: China: 70 (Siyu Wang 18, Yueru Li 14) bt Australia: 69 (Katie Ebzery 13); New Zealand: 75 (Tessa Boagni 16, Natalie Taylor 14) bt Philippines: 57 (Afril Bernardino 12, Gemma Miranda 10).

Matches today: India vs Philippines (3:30 pm), New Zealand vs South Korea (5:45 pm), Australia vs Chinese Taipei (8:00 pm).