The Philippines outclassed India, 99-65, in its last match in the second round yesterday at the CSWC Dayun in Changsa China.
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On Tuesday, the Palestinian squad started the match at the Changsha Social Work College’s gymnasium in the south-central Chinese city of Changsha in a strong fashion before the Iranians sprang into action and brought the game under control to claim the first quarter 17-14.
But unfortunately for the Indians, the Filipinos found their groove as the game progressed and proceeded to dominate.
Romeo made 6 of his 13 field goals that included 3 triples to finish with 20 points. India’s bench wasn’t able to step up here, scoring just 3 points.
Now that the Philippines have clinched the top spot in Group E, it will move on to face Lebanon in its first game of the knockout stage. After their second successive victory, India have a good chance of making it to the quarterfinals even if they lose to Philippines. From then on it was an all-Philippine show, which was capped off with an emphatic alley-oop slam by Matt Ganuelas.
Palestine, the Group B topnotcher which upset Gilas Pilipinas in the inaugurals on Wednesday, wasn’t as fortunate though, after taking a 73-70 loss to tall India earlier. Amjyot Singh also added 11.
Sakakini, Palestine’s lone professional player who is being surrounded by “basketball hobbyists”, couldn’t carry his team this time despite shooting 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
A day after their thrilling three-point win over giantkillers Palestine, a tired looking Indian outfit had a slow start.
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His production will be crucial moving forward for the Philippines, and it will be interesting to see if he can sustain this high level of play in the Quarter-Finals and beyond. The Philippines, however, won’t be facing the host and the only unbeaten team, China, up until the finals.
