Guo Shiqiang will return to coach the Liaoning Flying Leo­pards in the CBA playoffs and will remain at the helm next season, the Benxi-based club announced Monday.

Guo resigned as head coach of Liaoning on late Thursday night. "The way we lost the game was unacceptable," he said, adding that he "felt unwell" after Liaoning suffered a 108-106 away defeat to the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, the two sides' second playoff game, in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Guo's resignation was triggered by a foul from Korambek Makhan, who pulled down Han Dejun of Liaoning who was ­going for a layup at the very end of the game, which was not ­penalized by the referee.

The 38-year-old decided to resign after negotiations with the referees, but the result of the game stayed the same.

The referee of the game, Zheng Jun, was later on Friday sentenced to a 15-game ban by the CBA.

Liaoning played their third playoff game on Saturday ­under their assistant coach's guidance, however, Guo was also seen sitting on the bench.

Saturday's defeat put Liao­ning on the edge of elimination, as their opponents are only one victory from the next round in the best-of-five series.

Liaoning will have a showdown against Xinjiang on Tuesday at home. If they cannot make it then their opponents will step into the semifinals.

Guo replaced Wu Qinglong in the middle of December last year. Under Wu, Liao­ning ­suffered a losing streak of four games in eight days at the ­beginning of December.

Under Guo's tutelage, Liao­ning finished the regular season in seventh place.

Tuesday will also feature the Tianjin Gold Lions, who are eager for two straight wins to bag a semifinal berth. They will host the Dongguan Leopards.

The Guangdong South ­China Tigers are the only team in an eight-day break after they qualified for the semis on ­Sunday by sweeping the Shanghai Sharks 3-0.

Global Times