South Korea deals Philippines another heartbreak in Asian Games basketball
South Korea has been the bane of the Philippines’ campaign in the Asian Games basketball.
The Filipinos’ 91-82 loss in the 2018 Asian Games on Monday is just the latest of a long list of heartbreaks handed to the Philippines by the hotshooting South Koreans in the continental meet.
The last time the country was successful over South Korea was in the 1970 edition of the Games at Bangkok, Thailand where the Filipinos came away with a 70-65 win.
READ: Asian Games: Philippines falls to South Korea anew, out of basketball medal match
While the Philippines had put an end to the South Korea curse with a phenomenal semifinals victory in the 2013 Fiba Asia Championships, the same can’t be said in the Asian Games.
The hastily-formed Philippine squad was once again booted out of the medal race this year by South Korea in a frustrating fashion, which has become an all-too-familiar situation for the Filipinos.
Even with NBA guard Jordan Clarkson in tow, the Filipinos didn’t have enough fight left in the endgame and failed to stop the South Koreans from heating up in the fourth.
South Korea’s Ricardo Ratliffe, right, jumps for the ball against Philippines’ Raymond Almazan during the men’s basketball competition at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
READ: Gilas blows lead, loses heartbreaker to Korea
A 13-2 run turned a 68-67 lead for the Filipinos into an eight-point game in favor of the South Koreans with under five minutes left to play and there was hardly anything Clarkson and the rest could do from then on.
In 2014, the Filipinos also lost grip of a chance to vie for a medal after a stunning 97-95 loss to South Korea, which came back from 16-points down, in the preliminary round.
The Philippines, then led by some of the players from the silver medal-winning team in Fiba Asia, was sent reeling to their worst finish in the Asian Games at seventh place.
READ: Gilas ends Korean torment, wins Fiba Asia semifinal to book World Cup berth
Even in the 1998 Asian Games, the last time the country had a podium finish in basketball, it was South Korea which botched the Filipinos’ gold medal plans.
The Tim Cone-coached Centennial team, led by players who have become PBA legends today, absorbed a jarring 83-103 loss to the South Koreans which sent them into a collision with defending champion China in the semifinals.
READ: Gilas ends Korean torment, wins Fiba Asia semifinal to book World Cup berth
The Filipinos could also salvage the bronze medal that year.
But there is perhaps nothing more heartbreaking than the Filipinos’ defeat to the hometown team in the 2002 Busan Asian Games, widely considered as the most painful loss in the country’s basketball history.
With the Philippines a few seconds away from returning to the Asian Games finals after a long drought, Olsen Racela missed two potential game-sealing freethrows before South Korea’s Lee Sang-min stole the 69-68 win with a buzzer-beating three.
The Filipinos, though, get their chance at revenge in the 2022 Asian Games in four years.
