India suffered its third defeat on the trot with a 113-88 loss against Chinese Taipei to virtually crash out of the fourth FIBA Asia Cup basketball tournament here on Sunday.
The Indians, who had lost to Iran and Qatar, showed a lot of enthusiasm and energy in their Group ‘B’ match, but the lack of experience proved their undoing as they were outplayed by a stronger opponent.
India conceded a seven-point lead (31-24) to Chinese Taipei in the opening quarter. The gap became wider as Chinese Taipei ensured a 58-41 half-time lead.
By the third quarter, India was out of the game as it was thoroughly outplayed by Chinese Taipei which fired 33 points to build a massive 33-point lead (91-58) going into the fourth and final quarter.
India did, however, salvage some pride by scoring 30 points in the final quarter as against 22 by its opponent but it was too late to save the game.
“Somewhere down the line, we are lacking the game-experience to convert the energy into victory,” said 21-year-old Vishesh Bhriguvanshi.
It plays against host Japan on Monday in its last group match.
Four top sides from the two groups of five teams each will qualify for the quarterfinals.
Coach J.P. Singh was, however, happy with the performance of his boys despite them failing to win any match.
“I think we have done exceedingly well against all expectations. We are taking a lot of positives back, although the results might show otherwise,” he said.
