MANILA, Philippines - The road to the World Cup is not going to be as smooth as China would have imagined.
And it really didn’t come as a surprise that South Korea brought down China last night, 63-59, in their opening-day showdown in the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Koreans are not new to beating the Chinese inside the court, dating back to the 2002 Asian Games in Busan to the recent East Asia FIBA qualifiers in Incheon.
South Korea ruled the East Asia qualifiers by beating China in the finals last May 21, 79-68. Last night, before a cheering crowd, it was no different.
“We practiced a lot playing China and its taller players. So, we’re happy that we overcame the height of China,†said South Korean coach Yoo Jae Hak.
“We practiced a lot and we think we can still do better,†he added.
The early victory instantly installed South Korea as the team to beat in this 15-nation event that offers three slots to the 2014 World Championship in Spain.
The victory over the Chinese, winner of the 2011 FIBA-Asia crown over Jordan bannered by NBA veterans Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue and Wang Zhizhi, is certain proof.
Panagiotis Giannakis, the legendary coach from Greece and now calling the shots for China, never sat on the bench the entire game because he couldn’t afford it.
He was on his feet all night and shook his head after the South Koreans tied the game at 19-19 with 6:43 remaining in the first half.
Giannakis knew they were in for a tough one.
“We played a nervous game. We tried from the beginning to control the game. We played good defense but we gave up the easy points,†said Giannakis.
The first half ended with China barely ahead, 31-29, and Giannakis must have found the reason: his team committed eight turnovers in the first half and missed all six three-point attempts.
When Giannakis emerged from the dugout for the second half, he had the stats sheet on his right hand, then folded it and kept it in his back-pocket.
“We played a little bit nervous. We didn’t play like we wanted tonight,†he said.
China stayed strong in the second half but Korea managed to keep the game close. Neither team led by more than six points, and the last time China was on top was at 55-52 on Yi’s successive baskets.
Kim Joo-sung, who always stayed close to Yi inside the paint, then hit a three-point play to level the count and Yang Donggeun added a pair of free throws to give the Koreans a 57-55 lead, time down to 1:17.
China equalized once more before Cho Sungmin sealed it with four straight charities, the last one giving South Korea a four-point lead with only 21.5 ticks left.
At the buzzer, the South Koreans and their fans celebrated.
“But it’s a long tournament,†said the coach of the Chinese team during the post-game interview.
China faces Malaysia while South Korea takes on two-time champion Iran.
“We will focus on our next game. But we saw our weaknesses tonight,†Giannakis said.
In other results, Chinese Taipei and Qatar pulled off nerve-wracking victories while Iran fashioned out a ghastly rout to start their respective campaigns.
The Taiwanese upended the Jordanians, 91-87, to mark their very first FIBA Asia game with a naturalized player in tow while the Qataris nipped the Japanese, 75-74, to celebrate their return from their Wuhan debacle.
The Iranians served notice of their bid to reclaim the crown they lost in 2011 as they overpowered SEABA qualifier Malaysia, 115-25.
Quincy Davis came through with a solid FIBA Asia debut, piling up 18 points, 11 rebounds and one assist against three turnovers in 28 minutes of action.
He drew much attention at the paint and thus opened things up for shooters Lin Chih-chieh and Tien Lei who banged away 27 and 12 points, respectively.
Chinese Taipei spread scoring among 10 players to negate Jimmy Baxter’s 30-point explosion for the Jordan side paled so much in comparison with the old Jordan team featuring Sam Daghles and Rasheim Wright. – With report from Nelson Beltran