China Hanwei continue fine run

28/04/1998

CHINA Hanwei continued their fine run in the Asian Basketball
Confederation (ABC) championship when they beat Korea's Hyundai Dynat 83-
66 at Stadium Negara yesterday.
It was Hanwei's second straight win, following Sunday's 90-81 victory
over Uzbekistan MHSK.
Yesterday, Hanwei ran riot with the help of Eric Dortck, who topscored
with 43 points while teammate Liang Da had 14 points.
Cho Sung Wong led Hyundai with 23 points.
"We have been training for two months for this tournament and I am very
happy with the determination shown by the players," said Hanwei coach Lin
Xin.
Lin Xin is the first woman to coach at the ABC championship and has an
impressive resume to back it up. She has played for China and was voted
the best guard in Asia in 1994 and 1995.
She was also in China's Olympic team who won the silver medal at the
1996 Atlanta Games.
"I am still new to the team but I can safely say we will not finish
empty-handed," she said.
The halftime score was 35-32 with Hyundai getting most of their points
from rebounds. But when Hanwei finally settled down, they gave the ball to
Dortck, who lit up the arena.
The one problem that could jeopardise Hanwei's chances is fatigue.
With only nine players suiting up with 12 roster spots to fill,
tirednees could creep in.
Ma Jian, who went to school in Utah, was drafted by the LA Clippers and
said he passed up a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks to play for
China, admitted he played conservatively due to the limited manpower on
the bench.
In another match, tournament favourites China Regal of Hong Kong
struggled to beat Bangkok Club of Thailand 72-61.
John Spencer topscored for China Regal with 14 points, 11 of them coming
off rebounds.
Pramoch Jantaraniyom topscored for Bangkok Club with 22 points.
Results: Beeper 150 86 Toshiba Red Thunders 88; China Hanwei 83 Korea
Hyundai Dynat 66; China Regal 72 Bangkok Club 61.
(END)