TAIPEI CITY, Chinese Taipei (4th FIBA Asia Cup): Tseng Wen-Ting is quite the unsung star of many a FIBA Asia competition. The 28-year-old center has been the cog on which the Chinese Taipei wheel has revolved powering the East Asian team to the quarterfinals in four out of the last six FIBA Asia Championships – including all the three latest editions – yet has failed to get the recognition he deserves.

With Tseng in the Taipei line-up no opposition could afford to take them light – something Kimikazu Suzuki’s Japanese team found to their own peril in the Classification ranking game at the 24th FIBA Asia Championship at Tokushima in 2007.

Two years later, at the 25th FIBA Asia Championship at Tianjin (China), Tseng was at the vanguard averaging of 10.4 points per game as Chinese Taipei went on to beat formidable teams like Korea and Qatar en route to a fifth-place finish, their highest ever.

Tseng’s enduring contribution continued at the 26th FIBA Asia Championship at Wuhan (China) in 2011 when he scored at 10.6 points per game and took the team to the quarterfinals.

Come this Friday, Tseng will once again be at the forefront as Chinese Taipei battle it out with hosts Japan, twice former FIBA Asia Champions Iran, former winners of the FIBA Asia Cup when it was called the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup Qatar and South Asia champions India in Group B of the Prelim Round competition at the 4th FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo (Japan).

With such an impressive record to back and a work discipline that sets an example of many youngsters to follow, we can only expect another superb showing from Tseng.

FIBA Asia