Olympic champions Argentina rolled past New Zealand 79-62 at the world basketball championships on Saturday to become the first team through to the quarter-finals.
Wang Shipeng's buzzer-beating three lifted China win over Slovenia 78-77 in the first round of the FIBA World Basketball Championships 2006 on August 24 in Japan, sending China to the final 16.
Japan may have become the first hosts ever to miss the knockout stages at any World Basketball Championship, but the organisers hope Asian giants China will help keep pulling crowds to the arenas.
Brazil's women basketball national team head coach Antonio Carlos Barbosa said Thursday he believes the series of matches against China will be important for the preparation for the 15th FIBA World Championship for Women in 2006.
Shipeng Wang's buzzer-beating three pointer stunned Slovenia and brought the Sapporo Arena to its feet as China clinched the final spot of their group to qualify for the last 16 of the FIBA World Championship.
Greece ended Turkey's unbeaten run and stormed into the eight-finals in Saitama as Group C winners with a 76-69 triumph in the last game at the Hamamatsu Arena.
Dirk Nowitzki unleashed 47 points and 16 rebounds as Germany notched a historic victory against Angola while New Zealand advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2006 FIBA World Championships and Spain crushed hosts Japan in Group B.
Argentina held off an ever-improving Serbia & Montenegro side 83-79 to finish with a perfect 5-0 record in Group A and set up a second round encounter with New Zealand in the first Eight-Final game on Saturday morning.
The opening weekend of the FIBA World Basketball Championship in Japan has seen increases in TV audiences across major markets. This comes as a surprise given the time zones which have meant the matches are shown in the morning in Europe and during the night in the USA.
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