Chinese Taipei's women's side kept their Asian Games campaign on track by seeing off Indonesia 3-0 on Monday morning, a result that extends their unbeaten run to eight across all competitions.
To be fair, the hosts had been building toward this kind of performance, winning two of their last three matches while showing vulnerability in defeat against Japan and Thailand.
The hosts now sit second in the table on six points from three games, having lost just once to the Japanese side earlier in the tournament.
Indonesia, meanwhile, found themselves on the wrong side of a scoreline they'll want to forget quickly.
The visitors had enjoyed a solid 3-0 victory over Vietnam on the previous day but were unable to replicate that dominance here.
By then, they had already suffered defeats to Thailand and Japan, leaving them second on three points from two matches — a gap that matters more than the table position suggests.
And here's the thing about this result, it wasn't unexpected.
We'd given Chinese Taipei a 53 per cent chance of victory before kick-off, and that assessment held up.
The hosts had shown they could score freely against Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan, while also demonstrating defensive resilience in their 3-2 win over Kazakhstan.
Indonesia's attack had looked competent against Nepal but struggled against quality opposition like Japan and Iran.
The standings tell a clearer story than the points alone might suggest.
Chinese Taipei's two wins and one loss puts them in a strong position to progress, while Indonesia's single defeat from two games means they still have work to do.
The hosts' recent form — three wins and two losses in five matches — shows they're capable of both brilliance and inconsistency, something that will matter in knockout stages.
What this means going forward is straightforward.
Chinese Taipei have opened talks about their tournament ambitions with a convincing result against a fellow Asian side.
Indonesia need to regroup quickly and show they can compete at this level, especially if they're to avoid elimination.
The table goes out of the window in these games, but momentum matters, and the hosts have secured theirs for now.
