Taiwan proved no match for Iran in their second game of the final round, losing a 98-66 decision to the defending champs to drop out of contention for a fifth-place finish in this year’s FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China, yesterday afternoon.
The absence of point guard Lee Hsueh-lin, who was out with a cut above his left eye from Friday night’s game, prompted skipper Chou Jung-san to start reserve Chen Shih-nian, who filled in nicely for Lee with a solid effort off the bench.
However, Chen’s effort was far from sufficient to claim the Islanders victory over favored Iran, who vented their frustration following an upset to Jordan on Friday, which cost them a chance to win their third straight title, by dominating Taiwan in every facet of the game from the get-go, en route to a blowout win.
Photo: AFP
Heading the towering Iran attack was center Hamed Hadadi, whose game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds marked the second straight game that an opposing center had thrashed Taiwan’s interior defense, with Philippines big man Marcus Douthit doing as he pleased in a 37-point outing the night before.
Also starring for Iran were outside threat Hamed Afagh and guard Mahdi Kamrany, who converted 6 of 11 from behind the three-point line and slashed through Taiwan’s defense with several strong drives to the basket, combining for 36 points and keeping Taiwan on their heels the entire game.
For Taiwan, who never looked comfortable running their half-court offense, the bulk of the scoring burden fell on big men Wu Tai-hao and Tseng Wen-ding, the former with 16 points and the latter nailing an unusual 3 of 4 from behind the three-point line in a 13-point effort.
Failure to box out Iran on both ends of the floor also led to a huge disparity in total rebounds as Iran had a lopsided 54-24 advantage, 22 of which came off the offensive glass.
Next up for Taiwan in the battle for a seventh-place finish are Japan, who lost to Lebanon in their second game of the final round last night. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30pm at the Wuhan Sports Complex.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
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