ISTANBUL
The FIBA World Championship for Women continued on Saturday in Turkey with the classification matches underway to determine who will finish between fifth and eighth places.
China was able to show dominant play against Serbia, and beat their opponent 85-69 in the first match in Istanbul, to earn the right to play for the fifth place in the tournament.
The first quarter was an entertaining one, as both teams combined for 54 points. China started the game with a 10-0 lead after two minutes, and was able to hold the margin through the first quarter, 32-22.
The second quarter was the opposite for Chinese ladies, as they played with a poor shot performance, scoring only 11 points. Thanks to their center Mengran Sun's last second three-point shot, China was ahead by seven points, 43-36 at the half.
China, which is the tallest team in the tournament, did not let Serbia narrow the gap in the third quarter as well, despite strong play by Serbia's Dabovic sisters, Milica and Ana.
Under their small forward Ting Shao's leadership, the Far East giants increased their lead more in the deciding quarter to cruise past Serbia 85-69.
Shao played with game-high 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals for her team and Sun joined her with 17 points.
The Dabovic sisters combined for 23 points but could not prevent the defeat for Serbia, which also lost to Turkey a day ago by only one point in the quarter-final thriller.
China will play against the winner of the France - Canada match for the fifth place tomorrow, and Serbia will play with the losing side to earn the seventh place.
- Semi-Finals
Turkey, also known as the "Fairies of the Basket," will try to stay perfect in the tournament in a must-win-game against the Spanish to earn a ticket to the finals in Istanbul at 7 p.m. local time (2200GMT).
Moreover, two traditional powerhouses of the FIBA World Championship will battle, with the defending champions USA going up against the 2006 winners Australia tonight in Istanbul at 9:15 p.m. (0015GMT).
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