Taiwan cruise past Maldives in Guangzhou

Shih-Chieh Chang

Taiwan - Maldives 127:23

Taiwan had no problems en route to the win in their Asian Games opener. Chien Ping Lin team crushed Maldives by impressive 104 points. Seven players scored in double figures for Taiwan. Peng Szu-chin (163-G-91) stepped up with 20 points to lead the charge.
Maldives accounted for 3 points in the opening 15 minutes of the encounter allowing Taiwan to run away. The Taiwanese team actually piled up an insurmountable 57:3 lead at this point. They finished the first half leading by as many as 61 points 71:10. Taiwan have already passed 100-point mark in the third stanza. They coasted easily and played for fun en route to the first victory in Group B. Chang Shih-Chieh (172-G-86) delivered 15 points for Taiwan. Tsai Pei-Chen (186-C-84), Ma Yi Hung (80) and Liu Yi Chun (183-C-86) netted 13 points apiece for the winners. Aminath Shiura (176-C-87) replied with 8 points and 7 rebounds for Maldives. Fadhuwa Zahir (161-F-86) chipped in 6 points in the loss. Taiwan had much more serious test on Saturday when they take on Japan.

Taiwan: Peng Szu-chin 20, Chang Shih-Chieh 15, Tsai Pei-Chen 13+14 boards
Maldives: Aminath Shiura 8, Fadhuwa Zahir 6