Off the wire
• Six Kenyans die in Saudi Arabia stampede  • China Exclusive: NASA findings ignites discussion over life on Mars  • 7 killed in suicide attack, clash with IS militants in central Iraq  • NATO aircraft training kicks off in Lithuania with partners  • Rouhani blames Saudi "inefficiency" for Hajj stampede  • Harper, opposition leaders trade fire at Canadian election debate  • Denmark unveils draft budget for 2016  • Chinese writers should focus on ordinary lives: official  • Russia willing to improve ties with U.S.: Kremlin  • Yu Zhengsheng visits Altay in northern Xinjiang  
You are here: 　 Home

China beats Qatar for sixth straight win

Xinhua, September 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

China continued their undefeated journey at 2015 FIBA Asia Championship here on Tuesday after beating Qatar 89-65 to top Group F.

China will play against India in Thursday's quarterfinals while Qatar takes on Japan.

Zhou Qi dished out two blocks before Zhou Peng's three-pointer opened the match for the host. After tied at 5-5, Zhou Peng led China's 9-2 run in two minutes and 40 seconds. China never looked back from then on.

Qatar rested two key players in this battle for the top place in Group F. Clinton Johnson, Qatar's naturalised point guard, scored 20.6 points per game in the previous five matches, sit on the bench due to injury, while center Mohd Mohamed who finished the five matches with a fourth-team-high 8.6 points and team-high 7.8 rebounds also didn't play.

"The competition is very tough,"said Vasileios Fragkias, Qatar's head coach. "We already qualified into the quarterfinals before the match so I decided to give the young players some chance to get experience and let the injured players get some rest."

Qatar narrowed a 16-point gap to 40-33 with one minute and 25 seconds remaining in the first half and had an opportunity to draw even closer. Chinese veteran Liu Wei and Zhai Xiaochuan then scored baskets in the last 30 seconds before halftime break to stretch the advantage to 11.

China outscored Qatar in almost every field of the match and led as many as 28 points. All 12 Chinese players scored while five reached double-figures. Zhou Peng, Yi Jianlian and Li Gen led the host with 13 points apiece.

Abdulrahman Mohamed Saad led Qatar with 14 and six rebounds.

The loss put Qatar in the second place of the group and avoided to meet South Korea or defending champion Iran in semifinals. They will take on the winner between the Philippines and Lebanon if they can past Japan. Endi