Story by Alan Chiang/Red Sports. Pictures by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports and Vanessa Lim/Red Sports
Singapore captain Jabez Su and company had a hard time keeping Li Weijie (China, #7) quiet as he exploded with 18 points in the game. (Photo 1 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Anglican High School, Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - Mighty China beat Singapore 34-21 on the opening day of the FIBA 33 Basketball competition at the Asian Youth Games.
China won the game when they hit the 33-point mark before the three regulation periods were completed, but Singapore impressed by scoring 21 points.
China have a formidable reputation, having won the most number of FIBA Asian Championship titles. In addition, their AYG squad boasts an average height of two metres, with Singapore’s tallest player Russel Low standing ‘only’ at 1.93m.
Therefore it was no surprise that China won the tip-off with ease with Zhang Minghao (#5), standing at a mighty 2.06m, clearly towering over Russel (#5). The points drained in for China almost immediately as Singapore were slowly finding their feet on the court.
When Russel scored his first points for Singapore, he sparked to life. He managed to contain Zhang in the paint with several consecutive blocked shots that made the home crowd break out in applause.
While Russel was having some success containing Zhang, Singapore’s captain Jabez Su (#4) had to endure a tougher time from his counterpart, Li Weijie (#7), who had seven points in the first period.
Larry Liew (#11) also played his part, making a 3-point contribution to cut China's lead to a mere three points, as the home team trailed 8-11 after the first period.
China began the second period strongly and increased their lead to eight points within the next three minutes. They asserted their height dominance with most of the points coming from the paint.
Russel then sat out and Goh Kong Tat (#12) was introduced but the change did not improve the situation as China's lead was extended to 11 points by the end of the second period at 23-12.
In the final period, China carried on where they left off earlier, and their lead swelled to 16 within the next minute. However, Singapore staged a strong comeback to reduce the deficit to nine points with great inter-play between Jabez and Larry.
Nevertheless, China reached the 30-point mark with 1:35 remaining to play, and Singapore would lose their opener if any China player successfully made a 3-pointer.
Singapore managed to hang on for the next 35 seconds but China’s Weijie, clearly a star performer on court, made two field goals to reach the necessary score as his team posted a comfortable victory.
"Overall we are quite satisfied with our performance given that we have a height disadvantage in the game," said Singapore’s captain Jabez Su. "They (China) are physically stronger in the paint."
The Singapore AYG team had been training since February this year with as many as three to four sessions a week. Jabez stated that it was a great challenge to juggle both studies and sports since then.
Neo Nam Kheng, the Singapore coach, said, "The training started quite early and there was a well-planned schedule in place to help the players juggle both studies and basketball."
He added, "The China AYG team are the champions at the club youth level and they have professional training, unlike our team."
He is looking forward to the next match against Uzbekistan as he feels that Singapore has a good chance to win.
Match Statistics
Points by period
1st: SIN 8 CHN 11
2nd: SIN 4 CHN 12
3rd: SIN 9 CHN 11
Scorers
SIN
Jabez Su (#4) - 7 points
Russel Low (#5) - 6 points
Larry Liew (#11) - 8 points
CHN
Huang Guobin (#4) - 6 points
Zhang Minghao (#5) - 8 points
Zhao Xingchen (#6) - 2 points
Li Weijie (#7) - 18 points
Despite being double-teamed, Li Weijie still finds a way for a layup. (Photo 2 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Singapore captain Jabez Su (#4) attempts to drive to the basket. (Photo 3 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Russel Low takes a breather after a disappointing first period. (Photo 4 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Larry Liew (Singapore, #11) tries to intercept the ball. (Photo 5 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Li Weijie (China, #7) rushes in to stop Jabez Su from scoring. (Photo 6 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Jabez Su (#4) and Russel Low (#5) surround China’s Li Weijie (#7) in an attempt to intercept the ball. (Photo 7 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Russel Low (#5) tries to block a layup by Zhang Minghao (China, #5). (Photo 8 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Despite the defeat, the ever-cheerful Goh Kong Tat had a smile on his face. (Photo 9 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
SINGAPORE BOYS REALLY PLAYED WELL YOU GUYS MADE US PROUD! why kong tat never play?
Go Team Singapore!!! u guys can do it!!
i believe BAS supports the national team…but i guess the budget is limited to be able to give the team a “professional” training. in order to achieve this, private corporation should sponsor and finance the national team…but i dont think some companies would do that in singapore.
in the philippines, the SBP (governing body of philippine basketball), is being sponsored by private corporation…the philippine development team (RP Team #2) is funded by the biggest telecoms in the philippines (plus others companies too), and the players are on contract for about 3 years with PAY…and the pay is more than an engineer is getting paid for here in Singapore.
will there be any company/companies in singapore willing to give BAS support? to fund and give regular pay (say about SGD 5k/player) per month for the next 3-4 years? to finance the trainings, the travel expenses for competing in other countries… any takers?
“The China AYG team are the champions at the club youth level and they have professional training, unlike our team.â€
no offense,this prove something.even the singapore coach is directly saying
“singapore need more support from BAS,we dont get enough support,we have a lot of chances to make singapore basketball satndard higher BUT no one is giving us the support,to be good,u gotta have more matches,more preffesional practice.”
i was able to watch the game and was pretty surprised that Singapore played very well against the mighty China Team. Before the game started, i already expected a “blow out” by the chinese as the height advantage would play a big role. but Singapore kept China at bay by giving tough defense…all was because of Russel blocking shots of China #5…they even manage to trim down the lead to just 5 (21-26 is what i can remember) but then China broke away and didn’t let Singapore score…
but Singapore really pleased the crowed with its above expectation performance…hopefully, they can keep their momentum and make it to the quarter-finals…and maybe even to the semis.
the teams i think who will make it to the quarters would be:
Group A: Thailand and Palestine
Group B: Sri Lanka and Republic of Korea
Group C: The Philippines and Iran (Japan can be a darkhorse)
Group D: China and India (but Singapore has a big chance to be #2)
Who I think would make it to the semis? based on the matches:
Qrt final game1 will be Thailand vs. Iran, winner = Iran
Qrt final game2 will be SriLanka vs. India, winner = Sri Lanka
Qrt final game3 will be Philippines vs. Palestine, winner = Phils
Qrt final game4 will be China vs. Korea, winner = China
with the above, my prediction will be; Iran vs. SriLanka; China vs. Philippines…
If Singapore makes it to the quarters, they have a big chance to beat Sri Lanka and meet Iran in the Semis…the rest…well, its hard to tell…Philippines may be smaller than China, but I understand they beat the China team in a previous encounter…
anyway…All the best to team Singapore!
singapore,frankly speaking u guys exceeded all expectations in being able to score 21 aginst a china team taht averages 2 meter…thats crazy…u guys deserve it…u guys can win it…gogogo..!!!!win the uzbeks!!!
GO TEAM SINGAPORE! (: