Defending champions China reached the final of the Doha Asian Games women's basketball tournament after South Korea proved to be no match, China cruising to a 77-53 win on Monday.

"I am very happy with how we played today, we played good basketball," said China head coach Thomas Maher.

Four years ago, the Chinese women made great efforts to hold off South Korea 80-76 for the gold medal at the Busan Asian Games. Comparatively speaking, their victory on Monday was much easier.

"We did not think about the result before or during the match, we just tried to play our best and did what the coach told us to do," said Chen Nan, who led China with 20 points and eight rebounds.

"It's a very physical game, our opponents tried their best. I think this game will help us prepare for the final," added the 1.96-meter center.

Opening with a 21-9 run, China steadily pulled away to claim victory. In the fourth quarter, the Asian champions opened a 68-40 lead.

"South Korea started to change players this year, our players do not have much experience and came into this match with a lot of psychological burden," said South Korea head coach Yoo Soo-jong.

"Rather than saying China played really well, I would say we were not able to perform to 100 percent," Yoo added.

Sui Feifei added 13 points for China while Beon Yeon-ha scored 20 for South Korea.

In Thursday's final, China will face the winner of the other semi-final between Japan and Chinese Taipei.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2006)