CHENGDU, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China marched into the women's basketball final at the Chengdu Universiade after beating Chinese Taipei 83-61 here on Thursday.
Chinese Taipei's fast drives and fierce double-team gave China a hard time, and the hosts trailed 18-17 at the end of the first quarter.
However, a huge height advance in the paint enabled China to quickly come back in the second quarter, as Chinese Taipei, whose tallest player measured 187cm, couldn't find a way to contain the lies of 208cm Han Xu and 201cm Liu Yutong.
The "twin towers" of China not only proved unstoppable at the offensive end, but also provided strong defensive pressure when they familiarized themselves with Chinese Taipei's offensive rhythm. China increased their lead to 21 points with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, and the game entered garbage time.
Han notched a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds for China.
"After entering the final, I believe the most important thing for us is to adjust our mentality. Only when our mindset is well-adjusted can we reduce mistakes, and this is the premise for winning," Han said after the game.
China will play the final against Japan, who defeated Finland 69-56 in the other semifinal also on Thursday, with Chinese Taipei set to play Finland in the bronze medal match.
In the women's 5th-8th place matches, Poland beat the Czech Republic 71-52 and Hungary nosed out Brazil 66-61. ■
