Zhao Jiwei (C) of China dribbles during the basketball men's preliminary round group match against Hong Kong (China) at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Sept. 30, 2023. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)
China cruised into men's basketball quarterfinal with three straight group wins at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
HANGZHOU, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- China has advanced to the men's basketball quarterfinals at the Hangzhou Asian Games after closing out its group stage action with a 95-50 rout of Hong Kong, China on Saturday.
Iran, Jordan and Japan have also reached the quarterfinals after topping their respective groups. The remaining four spots in the last eight will be decided through a qualification round involving teams that finished second and third in the group stage.
Guard Zhao Jiwei top-scored for China with 16 points, and Zhang Zhenlin added 15. Young center Yu Jiahao hit all of his six attempts to nail 12 points.
Lee Ki and Marco Leung Ka-hin had nine points apiece for Hong Kong, China, while Xu Yuancheng added seven points and grabbed five rebounds.
Zhang Zhenlin (C) of China shoots during the match. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)
China proved too strong for their opponents as they built an insurmountable 45-12 lead by halftime.
Buoyed by deafening cheers from the crowd at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, the Hong Kong team put up more of a fight in the second half, scoring 21 points in the third quarter, just two shy of China's total.
"The fans' cheers were very positive, and our players gained confidence from them," Hong Kong coach Chiu Wing-leung said afterwards.
In other games played on Saturday, Japan downed South Korea 83-77, Qatar defeated Indonesia 74-67, Iran thrashed Kazakhstan 86-60, Saudi Arabia beat the United Arab Emirates 74-67, Jordan whipped the Philippines 87-62, Bahrain beat Thailand 76-62 and Chinese Taipei edged Mongolia 78-75. ■
