Hanwei take over

03/05/1998

ONE country, two systems was the catchphrase of the 1997 handover of Hong
Kong to China.
At the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship finals, China
Regal of Hong Kong enacted another handover to China Hanwei at the Stadium
Negara yesterday.
Defending champions Regal just could not stop Hanwei from stealing the
crown 71-70 although they matched them for a better part of the match.
The match was like a bad movie script and had a close ending with
Regal's John Spencer having a golden opportunity to win the crown when he
received a free throw with 10 seconds remaining in the match, but he
bungled both the throws.
Hanwei coach, Li Xin, the first woman to coach an ABC men's side was all
smiles after the win.
"We expected a tough fight and were prepared for it. But suprisingly
Regal decided to take the cautious approach and allow us to dominate the
match," said Li Xin whose side became US$50,000 richer for the win.
The first half was a close affair but China Hanwei never allowed Regal
to take the lead from the start. Liang Da, Hanwei's three specialists
opened up a 14-5 lead four minutes into play. Hanwei looked more confident
and organised with Ma Jian clicking well with their imports Erick Wilson
and Erick Dortck.
Yung Kam Wah of Regal, who top-scored in most of their earlier matches,
gave away easy balls for Ma Jian to basket at the other end of play to
pull further ahead.
He even missed two three-pointers in a row and was clearly off form for
the final.
Ten minutes into the match, play became so cautious that the players
from both sides started walking on court and rarely making any attempts
but three-pointers from a distance.
But two minutes before the first half whistle, Regal found their form
and started scoring. At halftime, Hanwei held a slim 36-34 lead.
When play resumed, Hanwei outclassed Regal and surged ahead 42-32, but
the match looked far from over.
Regal started defending well and scoring at the same time and the score
again came to a close 44-40 with five minutes of the second half gone. But
Hanwei never conceeded the lead since the start.
Meanwhile, the fight for third placing was over as early as seven
minutes into the second half when Lebanon Al-Riyadi, who came close to
toppling China Hanwei in a close and physical semifinals on Friday, opened
up a 66-50 lead against a tired looking Hyundai Dynat.
In the fifth-sixth playoffs, Petronas of Malaysia lost 91-70 to Toshiba
Red Thunders of Japan. At half time the score was 47-37 in favour of Red
Thunders.
The top scorer for Petronas was American Steve Spurlock on 28 points.
Results - Final: China Hanwei 71 China Regal 70; 3rd placing: Lebanon
Al-Riyadi 87 Hyundai Dynat 77; 5th placing: Toshiba Red Thunders 91
Petronas 70.
(END)