Day 7 of the 2019 Asia Oceania Championships started with an exciting overtime thriller between the Philippines and Chinese Taipei in the 9th/10th placing game.
It was the Philippines who looked the more comfortable of the two in the first half, controlling the game and taking a healthy lead of fifteen points into half-time.
They quickly extended this lead out to nineteen points at the start of the third, and the game seemed to be heading for an easy conclusion. Chinese Taipei then begun to find their way back in to the game with some pressure defence forcing the Philippines in to a string of turnovers, as they won the quarter 14-6. The fourth quarter continued to entertain the crowd, with both teams feeling the heat, fouls and turnovers were regular adding to the excitement, mixed in around some nice play. Chinese Taipei managed to tie the game with less than a minute remaining and force it into overtime, 39-39.
With the momentum behind them, Chinese Taipei took the lead for the first time in the game in overtime. The pressure had taken its toll on the Philippines as Chinese Taipei completed a remarkable comeback to run out overtime winners, 14-9, to win the game, 53-48
Chinese Taipei’s Chuang-Yi Giu led all scorers with 20 points followed closely by team-mate Chun-Yi Lu (19), with Ho-Cheng Teng making a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. For the Philippines, John Rey Escalante led their scoring making a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds.
The championships, being hosted by the Sports Association for Wheelchair Basketball Thailand, will tell us which countries from the Asia Oceania Zone will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Tomorrow is the first full day of action with 10 matches over two courts over the course of the day.
You can keep up with all the action at the championships through live-stream, statistics, on the website, and on our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).
Photograph copyright – X-1