By Benjamin Mallet
PARIS (Reuters) – China pulled off a surprise 21-15 victory over gold medal favourites Serbia on the second day of the men’s 3×3 basketball pool stage at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
The fourth seeds, led by Zhang Ning’s 11 points, showed remarkable skill, sinking 80% of their one-pointers and hitting on 50% in their long-range two-point shots.
Serbia’s World Player of the Year Strahinja Stojacic had a poor night, scoring only one point on seven shots and committing the final foul that allowed China to reach the winning 21-point mark with free throws.
On the women’s side, the Plouffe twins played a physical game in Canada’s 21-11 win over China, taking their team to the top of the pool after two games.
Katherine and Michelle Plouffe, the number one and number three players in the world, combined for 12 points, while number two ranked Paige Crozon chipped in with seven points.
Shortly afterwards, Latvia’s men’s defending Olympic champions dispatched the Netherlands 21-12 in a tense game for their second win of the competition as storm clouds loomed over the Place de la Concorde in central Paris.
The Dutch were hampered by poor shooting from beyond the two-point line by Worthy de Jong, the country’s flag bearer for the opening ceremony.
In a late afternoon game, Australia’s women recorded their first win of the tournament with 46 seconds left on the clock, when Alex Wilson’s two-pointer gave them a 21-19 win over Germany.
Four other matches are on tap for the evening session, giving the two United States teams the chance to claim their first wins of the Paris tournament.
In the pool stage of the half court sport, the eight teams play a round robin. The top two from the pool go straight to the semi-finals and the next four teams play off for the other two spots in the last four.
(Reporting by Benjamin Mallet; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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