South Korea snatched down defending champion China 63-56 in the preliminary round of the Asian women's basketball championships on Wednesday.

China finished the level I group with three wins and one loss, while South Korea had three wins and Thursday's match against Chinese Taipei, who lost to China in overtime in the opener.

South Korea, China, Chinese Taipei and Japan will meet in the second phase to decide the three berths for next year's World Championships in Brazil, with Thailand almost being wiped off the ground.

Wednesday's fierce-fought match was tagged as the finals of the tournament, and both sides played like it is the title at stake.

"We played very very good defense. It's the best defense I've ever seen from this team," said Chinese head coach Tom Maher. "I'm not upset. I'm very happy with the game."

China suffocated Korean outside shooters, who shot only 3-out-of-15 behind the arc, but let too much space for mid-range baskets.

On the other end of the court, China shot just 30 percent in the field under solid defense of its opponents, and committed 11-out-of-22 free-throws.

Trailing for most of the first half, China clawed back to take the lead at 36-35, but losing nine points in a row to enter the decide quarter at 44-39.

Successful defense gave China another chance to close the game as it ran 6-0 to make it 56-53 with 1:28 to go.

The Koreans called a timeout and came back with an easy lay-up and a 3-pointer to put the game beyond doubt.

Beon Yeon-Ha led South Korea with 17 points and Kim Yeong-Ok contributed 16 points, while Ye Li, Yao Ming's girlfriend, had 14 points for China.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2005)