Chinese Taipei displayed some solid basketball to beat fancied Philippines to enter the semifinals and coach Roman Huang reacted rather nonchalantly: “We did expect this.” Taipei’s semifinal entry after four years means that the team is one win away from winning a medal something they have never done in the last 10 years. Taipei’s last medal in this competition came via a bronze at the 2000 edition in Kuala Lumpur, where incidentally Huang worked as an assistant coach with the team.

Yemen had never hosted a FIBA Asia event before the 21st FIBA Asia U18 Championship. Yemen had never finished in the top-eight in any FIBA Asia event before the 21st FIBA Asia U18 Championship. Both these above statements have changed over the last seven days or so.

Not everything about Philippines’ campaign here in the 21st FIBA Asia Championship has been perfect. The team, against all expectations lost to a buoyant hosts Yemen, but bounced back in style beating a clinical and ever-improving Japan. And eventually beat Iraq to book their quarterfinals, which many thought was the Filipinos’ for the taking before the competition began. “I think the key at this level is to play consistently. There is no point in playing well one day and going down the next,” Philippines coach Eric Altamirano told after the team reached the quarterfinals.

In the three games so far, Kazakhstan have shown more than other teams the tendency to blow hot and blow cold. “What else do you expect from the boys of this age?” shot back Kazakhstan coach Boris Borissov when I broached this subject with him after the team ran circles around Qatar in their third Group B game – for their second win. “But I hope we blow hot on the right days from now on,” the burly coach chuckled.

West Asian minnows Iraq advanced to the Second Round and coach Ali Abdullah Hassan promptly dedicated the progress to the Iraqi society, in general. “Considering that we are in the rebuilding process any good news is welcome for the Iraqi society,” the 59-year-old told this website moments after Iraq defeated India.