China oust Czech 66-57 in women's basketball opener

 LONDON, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Guard Ma Zengyu was perfect to score 14 out of 16 points in the first half to lead China to a 66-57 victory over the Czech Republic in the opener of the women's basketball competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games here on Saturday.

The victory boosted¹ China's chance to advance into the second phase of the tournament as the world runners-up Czech team were tagged as the toughest opponents of Group A except for the six-time champions United States.

One more win could book a berth² in the top eight for China, which finished fourth in the Beijing 2008, when they face Croatia, Turkey, the United States and Angola in the following matches.

"I was overwhelmed," said Ma, a 30-year-old veteran who played her first Olympic match. "We started well and my teammates trusted me. They created a lot of opportunities for me and I made the shots."

Ma shot 4-out-of-4 in the field, including three 3-pointers, and made all three free-throws in the first half when China led 36-29.

China extended the lead to as many as 12 points in the third quarter, but saw the lead evaperated in the fourth period when Michaela Zrustova's 3-pointer tied it on 53-53 with 7:33 minutes to go.

Coming back from a timeout, China strengthened defence, preventing the Czech Republic from scoring in almost six minutes.

China built up a 59-53 lead again and carried on to extend the margin³ to 10 points with less than one minute to go. The Czechs never recovered.

"Usually we are not good in the first game in the Olympics. We shot badly today and there was no communication between the players," Czech's coach Lubor Blazek said.

"This was a contest of speed and size. We won the contest because we controlled the tempo⁴ of the game," Chinese coach Sun Fengwu said. "The Czech Republic is a strong team. They have size and shooters. The speed is the only weapon we have and we used it well. They didn't play their usual game."

The first match started 9:00 am as teams had to get up around 6:00 am. Sun said the Chinese had waked up on 6:20 am every day since they came to London to prepare the early match schedule.

Eva Viteckova led the Czech with 14 points.

1 boosted   

v.促进( boost的过去式和过去分词 )；增加；吹捧；向上推起

参考例句：

• The shop's new look has boosted its takings considerably. 焕然一新的店铺大大提高了销售额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The boy had to be boosted up onto the large horse. 那男孩必须让人托着才能骑上那高头大马。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 tempo   

n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度

参考例句：

• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
• They waltz to the tempo of the music.他们跟着音乐的节奏跳华尔兹舞。