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ANKARA: China's 80-89 loss to Russia on Wednesday has left them requiring a win over Turkey to ensure qualification to the second round of the 2010 world basketball championships.
If they do not get a result in that final pool match against the hosts on Thursday they could still advance if the Ivory Coast claim an unlikely first win of the championship by upsetting Puerto Rico, also on Thursday.
In the opening quarter it was one of China's youngest players, Shulong Yu, who was leading his teams charge over Russia, with five points as they snuck out to a 21-15 advantage by the time the quarter ended.
The advantage would not keep, as Russia surged back into the game through Sergey Monya's (17 points) 3 three-pointers giving his team the lead for the majority of the second quarter.
It was only when China's captain Zhizhi Wang stepped up and started to lead by example did China reclaim the lead with time running out.
Zhizhi Wang would finish the half with 8 points and the game with 14. Jianlian Yi (14 points 9 rebounds) was again doing the work at both ends of the court with 7 points and 7 rebounds for the half.
The lead would continue to ebb and flow in the third quarter. When the quarter came to a close, it was Russia who found themselves holding the slenderest of margins, 63-62.
In the final quarter the Russians, led by Sasha Kaun (16 points), completely took the game away from China as their shooting began to falter at crucial moments, winning with relative ease.
World basketball championship results on Wednesday:
Group A
Serbia 94 Australia 79
Angola 92 Germany 88 in over-time
Argentina 88 Jordan 79
Group B
Croatia 84 Tunisia 64
USA 88 Iran 51
Slovenia 80 Brazil 77
Group C
Russia 89 China 80
Greece 97 Ivory Coast 60
Turkey 79 Puerto Rico 77
Group D
New Zealand 71 Canada 61
Spain 91 Lebanon 57
Lithuania 69 France 55
- AFP/de
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