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.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS