Following on from their 3 on 3 clash the evening before, Malaysia and Philippines resumed hostilities in the first game of day three at the Kuala Lumpur 2017 9th ASEAN Para Games. After a slow start from both teams, Malaysia stepped up their defence in the latter part of the first quarter to open up a 9 point lead. This remained the same at the half after an equal second period.
Malaysia then put the pressure on in the third period, allowing them to go to the final break with a comfortable seventen point advantage. In a hard fought last quarter where Philippines didn’t ease up, Malaysia’s better shooting (48%-37%) meant they ran out 71-50 winners. Azman (23) again top scored for Malaysia, with good support from Hamzah (17) and Freday Tan (10), while Escalante with 19 kept Philippines in the game.
Second game of the day had the winless Myanmar and Laos chasing their first victories of the week. Myanmar jumped out of the blocks and surprised Laos with a 7 point lead at quarter time. Laos’s leading scorer Khammany struggled early, but found range in the second quarter to bring the margin back to just one at the long break.
The second half provided the closest game of the week so far, with the lead changing 6 times, before Myanmar held on for a five point victory, 69-64. Laos would no doubt rue their free throw shooting (2/8) which let them down when needed most. Khammany again led all scorers (30), backed up by Chanpheng (26), while for the victors Min Ko Ko (22) and Htain Lin Thu (21) were the main contributors, with Aung Ko Ko and Myint Win adding 9 a-piece for a good spread of scorers.
In the evening 3 on 3 session, Thailand remained undefeated with comfortable wins over Laos (18-3) and Philippines (11-4). Jumjarean continued his good form scoring the majority of Thailand’s points in both games. Neither Laos nor Philippines had an answer to Thailand’s defensive pressure and were clearly outclassed on the night.
A similar story unfolded in the third game of the night when Malaysia comfortably accounted for Myanmar 16-6. Malaysia’s height and speed advantage didn’t allow Myanmar to challenge and Hamzah (10 points) in particular was able to score heavily in the paint.
The 3 on 3 final game tomorrow between unbeaten Thailand and Malaysia will decide the gold medal.
For full results and more information about the Kuala Lumpur 2017 ASEAN Para Games visit the website
