Taiwan’s women’s basketball squad were victorious in their opening match of the Asian Games in Indonesia yesterday, but the men’s soccer team was thrashed by Hong Kong 4-0.
In women’s basketball, control guard Peng Szu-chin lit up the scoreboard with a game-high 16 points and four assists as Taiwan cruised past Kazakhstan 72-42 in their opening Group A game at the BGK Basketball Hall in Jakarta.
Huang Ping-jen had a well-balanced performance, recording 14 points, four assists, six rebounds and seven steals.
Photo: AFP
Taiwan’s solid defense limited Kazakhstan to only six and 12 points in the first two quarters respectively, lifting them to a 36-18 lead at halftime, which they extended to the 30-point victory margin.
Center Nadezhda Kondrakova was Kazakhstan’s top scorer with 11 points and was the only player to post double digits for the team.
Taiwan’s quick pace and alert defense caused significant trouble for their opposition, recording 21 steals compared with only seven for Kazakhstan, who also committed 29 turnovers, more than double Taiwan’s 14.
In men’s soccer, Taiwan did not fare remotely well in an impressive 4-0 rout by Hong Kong in their Group A match at Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium in the Jakarta suburb of Bekasi.
It was virtually a must-win match for Taiwan, who had earned one point in a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Palestine in their opening match, but then fell 4-0 to hosts Indonesia in the second match, with all four goals recorded in the second half.
Attacking midfielder Tan Chun Lok opened the account in the fifth minute on a header after a throw-in, as Taiwan’s defense left large gaps that Tan took advantage of.
Four minutes later, striker Jordi Tarres received a pass and raced into a one-on-one against Taiwan goalkeeper Pan Wen-chieh.
After Tarres slotted a low drive past Pan for Hong Kong’s second goal, the referees ignored Taiwan’s players, who said that Tarres and a teammate were offside. A video replay indicated that they were offside, but the goal stood.
Defensive lapses continued to plague Taiwan, with one failure to pick up attackers resulting in Tan scoring in the 37th minute in a similar fashion to his opening goal — on a header after a throw-in.
Four minutes later, Tarres also recorded a brace when he received a centering pass and tucked the ball past an advancing Pan to put Hong Kong up 4-0 by halftime.
Taiwan pressed for a goal, but failed to capitalize on their few chances in the second half.
The loss left Taiwan fourth in their five-team group and with only a slim chance to advance to the next round.
They will aim for a victory in their final group-stage match against Laos on Monday next week.
Separately yesterday, Japan stormed back after falling behind early to win their third-place match against Taiwan in the Asian Men’s Volleyball Cup in Taipei.
Japan trailed after two sets, but rallied against Taiwan’s tiring players to take a 21-25, 20-25, 32-30, 29-27, 17-15 victory.
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