2018 Asian Games Recap: August 30th
It was one step away from the finals of both men's and women's basketball, but even with so much on the line, teams still pulled out all the stops and put on great shows of basketball for the crowds watching in Jakarta and all over the world.
Women's Tournament
Korea took advantage of an uncharacteristically lacking show from Chinese Taipei, with a rampant opening on offence. Korea went on to make over half their field goal attempts and worked hard to monopolise possession. Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, kept finding more and more of their attempts falling short, and see their tournament run come to an end as a result. Chinese Taipei will now be aiming for the bronze medal as Korea reach the final with a 23-point win, with Park Hyejin, Lim Yungui and Ro Suk Yong all scoring seventeen points them.
After a close opening, China put a ten-point buffer between themselves and Japan, leaving them to make up the difference. Despite a game-high 17 points from Mio Shinozaki for Japan, they were overwhelmed by China, who made two thirds of their close range shot attempts and were 58% shooting from three-point territory. All of which saw China take the remaining spot in the gold medal game with a 86-74 defeat of Japan.
Men's Tournament
One of the most impressive performances of the tournament - 37 points and 12 points from Ricardo Ratliffe - would not be enough for South Korea to overcome a rampant performance in the paint from Iran. They made more than half their attempts from the field and kept up the hustle for loose balls, as well as seeing 23 points from their talisman Hamed Haddadi. After three wins in a row, undefeated Iran make the final with a twelve-point win over South Korea in the semi-final.
Zhou Qi had an amazing performance with 22 points and 16 rebounds for China, whose big scoring bursts gave them a big buffer over Chinese Taipei, who upped their defence and slowed the game down to try and gain control. Liu Cheng had a game-high 24 points for Chinese Taipei, but nothing they could do could help them come back from China's excellent ball movement and short-range offence. China will play Iran in the men's final with a comprehensive win over their neighbours, 86 to 63.
Classification games for fifth to eighth place will take place on the 31st and the medal games will be held the day after. In the build up to the conclusion of basketball at the eighteenth Asian Games, find out more on the official website of the Asian Games 2018.
