Wednesday, January 27, 2010 – Having won the first game on Day 1 of the tournament with a score of 31-26, Chinese Taipei was all out to upkeep their record. With a 5-goals difference that caused the loss of their first game, Hong Kong had their eyes set a win this round. The match started with Taipei’s star player, Chov Hson Mim, in jersey number 7, scoring the first goal of the game closely followed by Hong Kong’s Yuen Kong Ho scoring the first goal for Hong Kong. The scoreline moved to 4 (HK) : 2 (TPE) with Hong Kong taking the lead in the 7th minute of the game. It was evident that HK had gone back to the strategy board after their first game the day before with increased focus on tight and physical defence led by Liu Hoi Man.The small lead in score sparked off the aggression of the Chinese Taipei players who markedly up the pace of the game. Within the next 2 minutes, Taipei closed the score difference and drew 4:4 with Hong Kong, pulling the team back on par.
Hong Kong’s Liu Hoi Man was slapped with a 2-min suspension for an infringement in the 13th minute of the match. Taipei’s Chen Po Feng took to the 7m spot for the penalty shot but was denied by Hong Kong’s goalkeeper, Ng Yuekiu. The deflected ball was picked up by Po Feng who quickly shot from the 6m line. HK’s keeper was on fire and once again saved the goal, sending the audience into a round of applause and cheers. The score was 6 : 7 with Taipei leading by one goal. Taipei’s relentless attacks pressured Hong Kong’s defence line threatening to pry their defence apart and exploit every loopholes possible and stretching their lead to 4 goals with the scoreline 6 : 10 in favour of Taipei. Hong Kong’s coach was forced to call for a time-out when the score reached 8 (Hong Kong) : 11 (Taipei).
In a spectacular game play, Taipei sneaked in a pivot player 19 between Hong Kong’s right center and 2nd man. As the ball was fluidly passed around the 9m line in waves, Liu You Tsung from Taipei captured an opportunity to do an overhead pass to their pivot player Lee Chieh Sheng who did a 180o body twist and converted a goal for Taipei. Hong Kong’s determination to counter Taipei’s scoring spree as they harassed their opponents with tight marking. Yuen Kong Ho from Hong Kong did a surprise steal from Taipei and flashed down the center lane of the court, dribbling the ball towards goal with an opponent hot on his heels. Taipei’s goalkeeper, Lin Sheng You, took on Kong Ho’s close-range shot and kicked the ball off with his left leg, keeping Taipei’s goalpost safe. Lu Tsung You in his avid defense moves collided forcefully with shooting wing player from Hong Kong for which caused Hong Kong a penalty point converted by Siu Chi Yan. While Hong Kong was under continuous pressure from Taipei’s offence, their keeper was at the peak of his game, covering critical angles and making multiple saves consecutively. Both goalkeepers on court performed well which kept the scoreline low at 10 (Hong Kong) : 15 (Taipei) at the end of first half.
In the second half of the match, Hong Kong was pressured to step up in their game to improve the scoreline. The defence strong and stable but the shots from their offence were often not converted. There was no goal even after 5 minutes of game time in the 2nd half. Taipei’s Hvang Po Hsiang scored the first goal of second half at 5m 39sec followed by another goal from Chov Hson Mim. Hong Kong only managed to convert in the 7th minute of the game courtesy of Liu Hoi Man, bringing the score to 11 (Hong Kong) : 17 (Taipei).
As Chov Hson Mim threatened Hong Kong with his power shots, he was faced with much resistance from the Hong Kong defender Chan Chun Ho on several occasions who eventually received a verbal warning from the referee for his rough play. Wong Ip Lun Jas had his moment when he displayed a beautiful set of footwork and skills in a solo fast break, passed Shen Ming and Chang Ung Yuan from Taipei, and scored with a jumpshot. With a mere 10 minutes left in the game, Hong Kong started to step up on its game as they were only 3 points short of Taipei at 18 : 22 in favour of Taipei. Lau Kin Pan showed his cunning and aggressive wing play ability, playing into every possible gap in Taipei’s defence. Taipei’s wing player Chen Po Feng was just as sly a player as Kin Pan and had good several good runs dominating the flank. Yuen Kong Ho scored his 7th goal in the match upping his record of 6 goals against Taipei in the day before in the 28th minute of the game bringing the score to 25 (Hong Kong) : 28 (Taipei) as the final whistle was blown.
Written by: Janelle Koh
Photos taken by: Meiyin
No comments:
Post a Comment