Navneet Singh ,Chennai,18 Sep : Much was expected of the Indians against Chinese Taipei in the level I competition of the ongoing 23rd FIBA Asia women championship on Friday. But, despite brilliant efforts by skipper Geethu Anna Jose, who remained the top scorer of the match with 34, the hosts suffered defeat (61-84) at the hands of the visitors.
The Indian girls only once went into lead and that was in the first quarter.. After leading by seven points at 12-5 in the first five minutes, they allowed their opponents to close in to tie at 16-all at the end of the first quarter.
India themselves are to be blamed for their misery. After having been thoroughly thrashed on Thursday, the India girls had come with a game plan against the Taipei girls. It worked out well for them, but only for the first 10 minutes
They soon found themselves in troubled water as visitors changed their strategy to counter India’s move. It paid rich dividend for the eventual winner as they kept the scoreboard ticking all the time.
And that was the beginning of the end for India. Surely, the coach must have had plan B, but the girls could not implement it to the fullest advantage. Their penetration of rival defence lacked conviction.
Coach JP Singh tried his bench strength, but it worked for a brief period only. Anitha, one of the key players despite suffering from an ankle sprain on Thursday, was thrust but she wasn’t in her usual self. That could have cost India some vital points because she is good at outside shooting..
In the last quarter, the Taipei girls deliberately slowed down the game denying India the vital points. After running into the five team fouls in the previous quarter, they played cautiously forcing the Indians on the back foot. In the dying moments, the Indian girls pressed hard making some good efforts but that weren’t enough to narrow the gap.
Indian skipper admitted of poor scoring under the basket. “To stay in hunt for a good position in the tournament, we need to pull up our socks,” she warned .
Earlier in another Level I competition, Japan lost to China 58-75.
The girls from the Land of Rising Sun, played their heart out in the competition, but weren’t able to get past the tight Chinese defence.
The presence of a stalwart like Nan Chen, who plays WNBA, made all the difference for the Chinese team.
Results
Level I
Chinese Taipei 84 (Shih Chieh Chang 15, Jui you lan 15, Wan Ting Li 14 ) bt India 61 (Geethu Anna Jose 34, Prashanti Singh 7, Harjeet Kaur 6).
China 75 (Nan Chen 18, Lijie Miao 14, Lan Bian13) bt Japan 58 (Norika Koiso 17, Yuko Oga 8, Al Mitani 7).