Yang Liwei (L) goes for the basket during the women's preliminary round match against India at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Oct. 1, 2023. (Xinhua/Meng Yongmin)
China will face off against Chinese Taipei in the women's basketball quarterfinal at the Hangzhou Asian Games after successive group stage wins.
HANGZHOU, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's women's basketball team remained unbeaten after winning their last preliminary round game 111-53 against India at the Hangzhou Asian Games here on Sunday.
The Group A game was lopsided as China surged into a 38-7 lead to end the first quarter.
Li Yueru shot 11 from 16 attempts, taking 25 points to once again lead China's boxscore, star center Han Xu scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and shooting guard Li Meng added 14 points. Starting point guard Wang Siyu took 13 points and dished out eight assists.
Only seven players scored for India, as Pushpa Senthil Kumar and Sanjana Ramesh took 14 points apiece.
"We quickly got into a good rhythm both offensively and defensively. However, after establishing a significant lead, there was a bit of relaxation," China head coach Zheng Wei commented after the game.
Li Meng of China celebrates scoring during the match. (Xinhua/Meng Yongmin)
"Due to the limited time for the team to come together, we had always hoped to improve overall cohesion through games. From what I have watched in the group stage, each game is a step forward in that direction," Zheng said.
China defeated both Mongolia and Indonesia in previous group matches, and after trouncing India, the host team has scored over 100 points across all three games.
In other games played on Sunday, South Korea defeated Chinese Taipei 87-59, DPR Korea smashed Thailand 105-49, Japan thrashed the Philippines 96-59, Indonesia edged Mongolia 69-64 and Hong Kong, China beat Kazakhstan 70-56.
The women's basketball quarterfinals will feature China vs. Chinese Taipei, Japan vs. Indonesia, South Korea vs. the Philippines and India vs. DPR Korea on October 2. ■
