The Chinese basketball All-Stars suffered an 85-82 defeat to South Korea in Seoul in the first leg of their competition. 

China attempted to take command from its vantage in height and a slam dunk from Yi Jianlian helped the Chinese side to take a narrow lead of 24-23 after the first quarter.

But the home side came back with an airtight defence and using three-pointers to keep up with the Chinese pace.

South Korea grabbed the lead 1 minute and 40 seconds from time and Chinese veteran Hu Weidong's failure to shoot a decisive three-pointer 20 seconds from the end forced the Chinese side to concede.

The second leg of the contest will be held in the Chinese city of Harbin, Monday.

(CRI.com January 29, 2005)