Venezuela managed this Wednesday, for the first time in its history, to go to the second phase of a basketball World Cup, and it did so at the expense of the host, China, thanks to excellent defensive work.
In the opening minutes, China led the way, but missed the shots. Venezuela resisted the onslaught and, midway through the first four, a triple by Guillent placed the ‘Vinotinto’ 9-3 despite the roar of the home crowd, packed and scandalous.
The lead widened to 12-5, but China reacted and cut to 12-10, but the hosts didn’t score another point in the rest of the first quarter.
Guillent continued to be touched by the magic wand of the previous game (he scored a third of the 87 points against Ivory Coast last Monday) and led the Venezuelan attack with mastery until placing the set at the end of the quarter at 18-10.
The first seconds of the second quarter were a sequence of errors that ended a triple by Zamora in the second minute that left the score 21-10.
Graterol added after a play of strategy by Gregory Vargas and the distance grew two more points. In those minutes, the immense pressure for a victory in front of their audience seemed to weigh on the locals.
Yi Jianlian’s presence on the court gave the Chinese more consistency, who made a quick 5-0 run to 25-16. The Venezuelan coach, the Argentine Fernando Duró, opted for a timeout to try to cut the streak and preserve the distance that his pupils had achieved.
In the last minutes, China wanted and could not, despite the poor success of the Venezuelan attack before the break.
Just before the break, Zhao scored by three to bring the distance below ten points, but Guillent replied from the same distance on the next attack.
China toppled, with a few seconds remaining before the break, with a new triple from Zhao. But it was not the host’s night: Venezuelan captain José Vargas responded with a triple to make the score 33-23 at halftime.
Fang reduced the difference to nine with a triple a few seconds after the restart, which a two plus one by Wang reduced to six. China weren’t going to let the game go easily, and Zhao joined the basket party with an additional free kick.
The locals reduced the distance to 5 (39-34) after four minutes of the third quarter. Sitting almost at the foot of the court, former NBA player Stephon Marbury, who played nine seasons in the Chinese league and won multiple titles, celebrated China’s approach as if it were a tournament victory.
However, the difference did not disappear from the electronic: a Venezuelan always appeared compensating the comeback with a triple, like Colmenares at 5.32 from the end of the quarter.
The Caribbean defense drowned the Chinese and their spirits were feeling resentful as the clock ticked by and the Venezuelan lead remained: 51-36 with less than a minute to go to the end of the period. They managed to reduce it to ten when the clock reached zero.
The script was repeated in the last quarter: Venezuela was distancing itself and China was coming back slightly, never below ten points. Until there are four minutes left. A few free throws from Fang put the Asians to seven and the pavilion went wild.
At the critical and disadvantaged minutes, the Chinese burned the ball in their hands as soon as they reached the line of three, unsuccessfully, and their final effort came too late. The hosts had plenty of external pressure and they lacked aggressiveness and aim.
The other team from Group A that managed to pass the phase, and without knowing the defeat, was Poland, who won their last match with a comfortable 63-80 against Ivory Coast. Thus, Venezuela and Poland will meet Argentina and Russia in the southeastern Chinese city of Foshan in the second group stage of this tournament.
– Data sheet:
72 – Venezuela (18 + 15 + 18 + 21): Ruiz (4), Colmenares (11), José Vargas (3), Lewis (13), Guillent (15) -the starting five-, Gregory Vargas (12), Zamora (5), Chourio (0), Bethelmy (3), Pérez (0), Graterol (2), Carrera (4).
59 – China (10 + 13 + 18 + 18): Yi (11), Zhou (8), Guo (1), Zhao (12), Zhai (5) -the starting five-, Abudurexiti (0), Fang (13 ), Makan (0), Ren (0), Sun (2), Wang (5), Zhao (2).
Referees: Matthew Myers, Yener Yilmaz and Boris Krejic. Eliminated, Zhou Qi.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the third day of Group A of the Basketball World Cup in China played at the Wukesong pavilion in Beijing before 18,000 spectators (full). EFE