The Taiwan women’s national basketball team bowed out of the playoffs for the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2021 after suffering a nail biting 80-74 defeat to South Korea Thursday.

It was the agility of the South Korean players in the key that allowed them to edge ahead of Taiwan in the final quarter and win the game which was a qualifier for a spot in the semifinals of the tournament, held in Jordan.

The Taiwanese team narrowly made it into the playoffs by rolling over the Philippines in a 41-point deficit game Wednesday, after losing the first two games to Australia and China in the group phase of Division A.

At the postgame press conference, the Taiwanese team’s head coach Chien Wei-chuan (???) said she was proud of her team despite the loss.

“I think this is one of the best performances by Taiwan in recent years, even though it is a pity we didn’t win,” Chien said.

The Taiwanese team needs to consider naturalizing taller foreign players or finding big players to fill the role of centers, Chien said in response to media questions.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel