In-form Taipei crushes Hong Kong, moves within two wins of top Group E ranking

THE Chinese-Taipei juggernaut just kept on grinding as it ran Hong Kong to the ground, 94-55, to keep its unbeaten streak in the 27^th Fiba-Asia Championship on Monday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Taiwanese had 10 players finishing in double figures led by Chen Shih-chieh with 13 points to jumpstart its campaign in the second round of the preliminaries on a high note.

The lopsided win served as a fitting follow-up to the team’s come-from-behind 84-79 squeaker over Gilas Pilipinas Saturday night that allowed Taipei to finish on top of Group A at the end of the first round.

The Taiwanese currently share the top spot in Group E with another undefeated team in Qatar, both with identical 3-0 (win-loss) slate. The Qataris earlier won over Jordan, 75-61.

Teams carried over their respective records to the second round, although victories over entries already eliminated are no longer counted.

Hong Kong joins Jordan in the cellar of Group E with 0-3 slates.

Iran also marched to its third straight win by whipping a hapless India side, 102-58.

Hamed Afagh showed the way for the two-time Fiba-Asia champion with 16 points, while Samad Nikkhah Bahrami and Hamed Sohrabnejad added 15 and 15, respectively.

Star player Hamed Hadadi was played for only 16 minutes by coach Mehmed Becirovic and finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for the Iranians, who are on top of Group F.

The scores:

Chinese Taipei (94) – Chen 13, Tien 12, Creighton 11, Lu 11, Yang 10, Davis 9, Hung 7, Chou 7, Tsai 6, Lin 6, Tseng 2.

Hong Kong (55) – Fong 13, Reid 9, Chan YL 9, Lee 5, Lau 4, Li 4, Lam 3, Lau 3, Chan SW 3, Wong 2.

Quarterscores: 19-19; 43-32; 74-43; 94-55.

Iran (102) – Afagh 16, Bahrami 15, Sohrabnejad 14, Hadadi 12, Kardoust 12, Davari 8, Kamrany 8, Jamshidijafarabadi 7, Davoudichegani 7, Veisi 2, Arghavan 1, Sahakian 0.

India (58) – Bhriguvanshi 15, Grewal 10, Amjyot 10, Pratham 5, Amritpal 5, Yadwinder 4, Pethani 4, Joginder 3, Kaushik 2, Kadam 0, Singh 0, Bharama 0.

Quarterscores: 25-12; 51-22; 78-39; 102-58.

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