South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 73:59 in their Asian Games match on Monday morning. The home side completed three wins from three games played so far at the tournament.
By then the hosts had already made their statement about where they stand. Three victories from three matches puts them at the top of the table, though the points column shows nothing yet. That is a quirk of how the competition is structured, not a reflection on their work on the court.
And here's the thing about their recent form — they have won every game they have played. After a heavy defeat to Germany and a narrow loss to Hungary, they found their rhythm. The 106:40 win over Malaysia and 88:61 victory against Mongolia showed they could score freely when the opposition was not at full strength.
Chinese Taipei came into this match sitting third with one win and two defeats. They had beaten Mongolia 76:67 and Malaysia 98:59, but the results against stronger teams told a different story. A 45:89 loss to Japan and a 42:95 defeat in the same tournament showed the gap between them and the top sides.
To be fair, this result does not change the table dramatically. South Korea remain where they were, and Chinese Taipei stay in third place. What it does is extend the hosts' winning run and leave the visitors needing to bounce back from their second loss of the competition.
