China lose to South Korea in women's basketball
( 2004-01-17 13:41) (Xinhua)
Defending champions China lost to old rivals South Korea 80-77 in overtime in
their third group match of the Asian Women's Basketball Championships.
Although China was leading in the first three quarters of the game on Friday,
the South Koreans managed to draw the match with a last second three-pointer and
bring it to overtime.
South Korea claimed back-to-back titles in the Asian Championships in 1997
and 1999, but placed third in 2001.
And China beat South Korea for the gold at the 2002 Asian Games.
But in these championships, South Korea has now finished its group matches
with four straight wins, while China has two wins, one loss, and one group match
to go.
However, losing to the Koreans is unlikely to affect China's chances of
advancing to the semi-finals, because the Chinese team shouldn't have any
problems when it meets its last group match opponent, Thailand, on Saturday.
Nine teams are taking part in the Asian Women's Championships. The top three
finishers will qualify for the Athens Olympics.
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