Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports.

china vs srilanka

Zhang Minghao (China, #5) comes from behind to try and block a shot attempt from Sri Lanka’s #15. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

Anglican High School, Friday, July 3, 2009 – The maestros of Asian basketball easily dispatched their opponents in the quarter-finals of the boys’ FIBA 33 competition at the Asian Youth Games (AYG).

Iran, China and Philippines finished off Thailand, Sri Lanka and UAE respectively within two periods while host Singapore pushed South Korea all the way to a final period before succumbing 24-34 in the quarter-finals.

Iran was the first team to qualify for the semi-finals when they comfortably beat Thailand 33-19. Captain Ojaghi, Mohammad Sedighi, Amir led by example as he put a total of 20 points on the board. The Iranians leapt to a quick 23-7 lead in the first period and overpowered the South-East Asian nation with their size advantage, easily wrapping the match up in the second period.

Another South-East Asian country, basketball powerhouses Philippines, steamrolled over the United Arab Emirates 33-9 with more than half the match still left to play. Philippines never trailed as they easily brushed aside their middle-eastern opponents, with top scorer Cris Michael Tolomia ending the match with a beautiful three-pointer from the corner to wrap up the victory.

China also easily progressed to the semi-finals with a comfortable 34-9 victory over a helpless Sri Lanka side. Li Weijie (China, #7) impressed once again as he finished top scorer with 18 points, helping his side to victory in two periods.

But the pick of the quarter-finals was the match between hosts Singapore and South Korea. Despite falling behind 0-7 in the first period, Singapore fought back and even took the lead at 9-7. The Koreans, however, eventually proved too much to handle for the inexperienced Singapore side as the latter fell 24-34, pushing the Koreans to the final period.

Iran will play South Korea while China will be facing a stern test against Philippines in the semi-finals on Saturday morning. The winners from these two semi-finals will proceed to take on each other in the afternoon’s final.