HARBIN, Heilongjiang: Yao Ming notched a game-high 29 points and 13 rebounds as China crushed Chinese Taipei 121-61 yesterday in the first round of the 22nd Sanjing Asian Men's Basketball Championships.

It was a game without any expectations as the 12-time Asian champions increased their perfect record to 7-0 against Chinese Taipei.

But the lopsided score upset Chinese Taipei head coach Lee Ching-chyi, who did not attend the post-match press conference.

"We played good today and we come here for the title," said Yao, the Houston Rockets' star who was 13-of-16 from the floor at a perfect 3-for-3 from the foul line in 20 minutes of playing time.

"Chinese Taipei has a playing style similar to South Korea, and they have very fast transition from attack to defence," he said.

Chinese head coach Jiang Xingquan praised the opponents for their rapid progress and good physical abilities.

"They have a young team and have made great progress in the past two years. They played better than yesterday when facing Iran," he said.

Forward Du Feng, 22, also did a great job for China, nailing 25 points and hauling down six rebounds. Zhu Fangyu, Li Nan, Li Ke and veteran Sun Jun were China's other double-digit scorers.

"I am satisfied with my players and most of them gave out their normal form today, but some of them, like Mengke Bateer, did not," Jiang said.

The Toronto Raptors' centre only played for 10 minutes in the second quarter and got three points and six rebounds.

Jiang explained that Bateer suffered an injury one week ago and could not go on a normal training schedule.

"But he worked very hard and became to adjust to the game," he said, "He needs time to come back to the normal form."

Jiang dispatched the same starting line-up as the first match against Syria, and Liu Wei, Zhu Fangyu, Zhang Jinsong, Yao Ming and Li Ke soon responded with a 12-2 lead in the first quarter.

Chinese Taipei fought back with three three-pointers to 17-11 before China called their first and only timeout and quickly regrouped to grab a 28-16 lead.

In other action, Iran downed Syria 82-67 in another Group C match, while South Korea beat Kuwait 95-71 and India outplayed Malaysia 81-62 in Group B.

In Group A, Lebanon defeated Hong Kong 90-67 and Kazakhstan romped over Uzbekhstan 86-66. In Group D, Qatar upset the Philippines 77-69 and Jordan edged Japan 63-59.

China will play Iran who also kept unbeaten after two matches today to battle for the top place of the group.

(China Daily 09/25/2003 page8)