China, Japan in semis

If India8217;s 29-94 loss 8212; third in succession 8212; to China was a foregone conclusion, Japan were made to sweait it out bt a determined North Korean girls. The match, the best on view so far in every sense, went to the wire. But with a minute and a half remaining on the clock, the dimunitive Oga Yuko did the star turn and Japan wrapped it up 80-68.

In fact, it was Yuko who made the difference between winning and losing. Unfortunately, North Korea missed some vital baskets in the last minute even as Yuko took their score from a precarious 69-66 to 76. And from here, they sealed the fate of North Korea.

Until Yuko shot a three-pointer, made good two free-throw conversions and sent in another clean basket, the North Koreans stayed in the game in the see-saw battle. The lead kept changing hands with both teams playing fast games right from the word go. Both matched in each other8217;s wits 8212; displaying fast breaks, excellent rebound collections and good half-court and full-court press games 8212; and in defence made swift changes from zonal to man-to-man whenver the situation warranted.

Though Kim Hye Ok did bulk of the scoring for North Korea with Jon Kum Hui and Kim Miok, Yuko did a splendid job with her ability to pierce through the DPR defence, often forcing her opponents into committing fouls. With their conversion rate improving by the minute, North Korea, who led by a point at the break, were forced on the back foot.

More than the Japanese skill and speed what did the North Koreans in was the inability to come out of tense moments, particularly fumbling at free-throws in the last minutes. The rugged gameplan by both suited the Japanese more than their rivals as the latter changed strategy now and then to outwit the former.

The Indian gameplan against the Chinese once again exposed the talent available in the country and brought into question the selection process. If what was seen was the talent available in the country, we better close the shop. So poor was their game that China could experiment with their bench strength. After a swift scoring in the first session, the Chinese went about slowly in the second and even then the Indians could not make good the opportunity to increase the scoring rate. Like yesterday, the Indians scored less in the second session 8212; a mere 12 points. One failed to understand with coach Rajesh Patel8217;s idea of persisting with Anisha Chaudhary, who made a mess of things even as Anju Lakra made up for her. Sofi Sam, whose scoring pattern decides the Indian fate, was simply pushed out by strong their rivals. Yet, the two topscored for India with 10 and eight points, respectively.

Brief scores: Pool A:

Malaysia 66 J. Tan Lai Ling 13, Chen Yong Yong 13, Cheng Shee Mun 10 bt Sri Lanka 42 DS Dilrukshi 14, BY Sanduni 9, JI Sandamali 6 HT: 34-20; China 94 Ren Lei 13, Ma Zengyu 12, Chen Nan 12 bt India 29 Anju Lakra 10, Sofi Sam 8 HT: 52-17; Japan 80 Oga Yuko 31, Shigeta Asaki 12, Tanaka Rika 10 bt DPR Korea 68 Kim Hye Ok 25, Jon Kum Hui 14, Kim Miok 10 HT: 37-38.

Pool B:

South Korea 81 Bang Ji Yun 15, Park Eun Jin 9, Lee Youn Hua 8 bt Thailand 51 R. Supranee 11, Chantop Jintan 10, Innueng Intira 7 HT 39-30; Uzbekistan 87 Kiseleva Juliana 25, Artemova Elena 22, K. Tatyana 8 bt Hong Kong-China 37 Wong Ching 8, Liu Chui Shan 6 HT: 45-14.