Yao powerless as hosts China exit WC; Serbia down Italy

BEIJING: Yao Ming looked on helplessly and fans were let in tears as hosts China failed to progress to the second round of the Basketball World Cup with a 72-59 defeat to Venezuela on Wednesday.

In a do-or-die batle to reach the next stage, it was the South Americans who appeared to relish silencing a vocal, packed crowd at Wukesong Arena in Beijing.

The Venezuela defeat gave China a record of one victory -- over the Ivory Coast -- against two losses.

Even neutrals had expected them to successfully negotiate a weak Group A, where Venezuela joined Poland in the last 16, while a public of 1.4 billion was as expectant as ever.

China, ranked 30th in the world, placed their hopes largely on the shoulders of a towering front court of three seven-footers: Yi Jianlian, Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin.

Because of the format of the World Cup, China’s tournament is not over and they will now need to rally themselves to compete in a low-key classification round with Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying in play.

Meanwhile, Red-hot Serbia showed they -- not reigning two-time champions the United States -- are the team to beat at the Basketball World Cup with a 92-77 victory over Italy on Wednesday to top their group.

Gregg Popovich’s Team USA were pushed to the limit on Tuesday before finally swating aside 17th-ranked Turkey in overtime to labour into the second round in China.

Just 24 hours later Serbia showed the Americans how to do it against the Italians, ranked 13th, in a batle for supremacy in Group D with both teams already through to the next stage.

In the next round Italy and Serbia will be in a group with Spain and Puerto Rico.