China's Wang Zhelin (left) shields the ball from Amitpal Singh of India on Tuesday. Photo: CFP

China's young star, Wang Zhelin, scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the national team captured their ­second consecutive win at the 2013 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Asia Championship. They beat India 79-45 on Tuesday in Manila, the Philippines.

The 19-year-old said after the match, "I'm happy to win the game. It's a confidence boosting game for the team.

"We didn't play well in the Group C matches, but now everyone seems to be back in shape.

"Every single match is a good chance for me to improve. I have learned a lot from the elder players, both in attacking and defending."

Another talented youngster, 20-year-old Guo Ailun, posted 16 points, adding one rebound and two assists.

Veteran Wang Zhizhi, who was set to be overlooked for the tournament because of his age, scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds in less than 10 minutes on the court.

Wang Shipeng of China opened the scoring from beyond the arc, but the Indians responded quickly before the Chinese team tried to dominate through three-pointers. Zhou Peng ended the first quarter with a buzzer-beater to leave the scoreboard at 22-14.

Team China extended their lead in the second quarter as they let their opponents add just six more points. The half finished with the scores at 45-20.

In the third quarter, much to the ­displeasure of Team China's head coach, India went on a nine-point run to ­China's two in reply. Panagiotis ­Giannakis called a timeout before his China side ­expanded the lead, with the quarter ending at 60-29.

The final quarter saw the Indians give their younger players some game time but both teams produced a basket-heavy finale to end the game 79-45 to China.

Coach Giannakis said in the post-match news conference, "Before the match, I reminded my players about concentrating on the court. They did well in this game, especially in ­defending."

It was not all good news for China, as Yi Jianlian and Liu Xiaoyu missed the game due to injury.

Giannakis said of his team, "We are getting better. Now I'm waiting for the two injured players to recover. I hope they can come back as soon as possible. We need them in the upcoming final round."

However, China's ability to only ­perform in wins over regional lightweights has worried some. A basketball fan named Cai Jieqing said on his Sina Weibo on Tuesday, "Only when facing such lightweight teams can we score a lot. How can we defend the championship when a game gets hard?"

Team China will meet Bahrain in Group F on Wednesday.

Global Times