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U18 Asian Cup: Taiwan finish seventh as Songshan coach says players must look beyond HBL

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Taiwan finished seventh at the U18 Asian Cup after a quarterfinal loss to South Korea and a ranking-round win over the Philippines.
  • Songshan High School coach Yeh Wei-chiao said Taiwanese players need broader international perspectives and should prepare to compete at the Asian level.
  • Yeh said Taiwan must improve basic skills and team play against Japan and South Korea, while developing local players alongside overseas-based Taiwanese athletes.

Taiwan finished seventh at the U18 Asian Cup, but Songshan High School coach Yeh Wei-chiao said the tournament’s larger lesson was that Taiwanese players cannot remain confined to the country’s HBL competition.

Taiwan included several overseas-based players from the training stage, with four Taiwan-linked players making the final 12-man roster. The team lost to South Korea in the quarterfinals and missed the semifinals, then defeated the Philippines in the ranking round to take seventh place.

Yeh, who joined the tournament coaching staff, said international camps and competitions should help players understand that success in Taiwan is only one step. “We should not keep limiting ourselves to Taiwan’s HBL,” he said. “We need to give players an international outlook and let them know that even if they are the best in Taiwan, they must move on to the next stage.”

We should not keep limiting ourselves to Taiwan’s HBL. We need to give players an international outlook and let them know that even if they are the best in Taiwan, they must move on to the next stage.

· Yeh Wei-chiaoThe Songshan coach explained why Taiwanese players need broader international competition.

Yeh said Taiwan faces physical disadvantages against Australia, New Zealand and Middle Eastern teams. Against Japan and South Korea, he said, the physical gap is smaller, making fundamentals and team coordination the priorities. He also said overseas players strengthen the team, but developing local players so they can compete with them remains essential.

Songshan, the only team to win three consecutive HBL boys’ titles, will try to challenge for another such run next season. Yeh said he wants the team to return to its own style rather than carry the burden of defending a title. In a separate tournament game, Songshan lost 83-65 to Guangfu High School while missing several key players. Yeh said the team would use the competition to refine its approach and expects Ren Yu-xuan, Chen Yen-yu, Chou Yu-chen and Pan Chen-wu to take on larger roles after the graduation of Pan Yen-ming and Liu Ting-kuan.

They need to be good players at the Asian level as well, broaden their horizons and not become satisfied too easily.

· Yeh Wei-chiaoYeh described the standard he wants Taiwanese players to pursue.
About this summary

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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