2018 Asian Games Recap: August 23rd
The last day of group play in the women's tournament and a crucial game in the men's all took place on the ninth day of basketball at the 2018 Asian Games. Full recap follows:
Men's Tournament
The only men's game played today determined the final outcome of Group D. Kazakhstan pressured China on offence and saw 15 points from Rustam Yergali, which saw the game get heated just before half time. China opened the second half with ten unanswered points, which gave them a more comfortable buffer for the game's remainder. Liu Zhixuan had a game-high 18 points for China, whose 66-83 victory saw them top the group, and eliminate Kazakhstan at the same time.
Women's Tournament
Already eliminated Hong Kong were held to just nine points in the second half against China, who made two thirds of their attempts from the field and saw 26 points from Han Xu as they topped Group B in style with a 123-31 defeat of Hong Kong.
With the better team play, Thailand came out on top in the low-scoring, defensively minded game with Mongolia. By making the most of their scoring chances, Thailand finish ahead of their opponents here in the final group standings with a win of 62 to 39.
The two teams in Group A still without a win - Indonesia and India - faced off for the final quarter-final spot. It was a close game, and went back and forth between the teams. Indonesia led by ten early in the second half, but India came back to take a slender lead down the stretch, which kept changing hands between the two. Much of India's points came from Stephy Nixon, who had a team-high 18 points in this game.
The score was tied at 66 with a minute left in the game, but two free-throws from Sophia G with seconds left would win the game for Indonesia by three, and the hosts live on in the competition.
Today's results mean China finish as men's Group D champions, while Philippines also proceed to the quarter finals as runners-up. Also set are the quarter-final match-ups for the women:
Chinese Taipei (A1) vs Mongolia (B4)
Korea (A2) vs Thailand (B3)
Japan (B2) vs Kazakhstan (A3)
China (B1) vs Indonesia (A4)
Play will continue on the 25th with the final games in the men's tournament. Until then, more on the tournament can be found on the official website of the Asian Games.
