TAIPEY CITY – After a 5-day intensive competition, the 5th edition of the AUSF Men’s Basketball Championship came to an end on 8 November. During the final day of the championship, Mongolia and Macau fought for the fifth place, Hong Kong and Korea strived for the third best, while China and Chinese Taipei tried best to seize the coveted gold medal, and after 4 quarters of breathtaking competition, Team China came out victorious. China’s team captain Zhao Rui, who hit 25 points and 9 rebounds, was the MVP. “We were trying hard to keep the tempo up. We trusted in team work and let each one showed his best’’, He commented. “It was a great experience to play such a good game here. We’ve learnt a lot, and we can improve ourselves to be a better.”
Gold medal game CHN vs TPEAlthough it was for third place, the match between Hong Kong and Korea was no less exciting. With only 3.4 seconds left in the game, the result was still tied 76-76, and then Hong Kong throw the last shot, deciding the final result as 78-76. “It was my first time to play for Hong Kong,” said Tsai Choi-kwan, “and I am so happy we can be top 3 teams, which is the best result Hong Kong ever achieved in AUMBC.”
“We will come back to seize the championship title in the 6th AUMBC, we will be even stronger and more powerful and never give up”, said Team Mongolia, who beat Macau with the final score 97-52, and got the 5th place. In the precious 4 matches, Mongolia only lost one match to China, but they fell out of the semi-final accidentally. “Our players are young and full of energy, and they still have good chance to challenge the championship again”, said the coach Tulga Sukhabaatar.
Macau realized the importance of increasing strength. “We have experienced a lot in this championship and we learnt so much from other teams”, said the coach Vong Ka-lou.
Awarding and Closing Ceremony
AUSF Senior Vice President Omar AL-HAI at the closing ceremony
The Awarding and Closing Ceremony started after the final match. AUSF Senior Vice President Omar AL-HAI, Secretary General Kenny CHOW, Vice Secretary General XUE Yanqing, Assessor Jargalsaikhan and Mahdi TALEBPOUR were present, together with Mr. TING Ting-yu, Vice Mayor of Taipei city, Mr. CHIANG Han-sun, President of Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation (CTUSF), Mr. TSENG Ching-yu, Secretary General of CTUSF. On behalf of the OC, Mr. CHIANG Han-sun thanked all the participants for coming and congratulated all the athletes on their best and wonderful performance. On behalf of AUSF, Mr. Omar AL-HAI expressed the sincere appreciation for the organizing job and to all OC staffs for their dedicate work. He also congratulated all athletes for their excellent performance. Since Taipei will be the host of Summer Universiade 2017, he encouraged all Asian countries and regions to come back again for that grand event.
Final Ranking
1st Place – China
2nd Place – Chinese Taipei
3rd Place – Hong Kong, China
4th Place – Korea
5th Place – Mongolia
6th Place – Macau, China
7th Place – Philippines
For more information on this event, visit the AUSF official website www.ausf.org or www.youtube.com for the competition video.
(Source: AUSF Secretariat)