The fifth annual William Jones Cup Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament held July 1-15 at Chunghua Stadium in Taipei was an athletics spectacular both in terms of the number of competing teams, player skills, and spectator enthusiasm.
Participating countries included the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Guatemala, England, Sweden, West Germany, the Netherlands, Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, and the two host teams, China Blue and China White.
The quality and experience of this year's teams was better than ever before. For example, the Korean team has previously held international titles and the American college all-star team had young but experienced players. Among the European teams, the Netherlands team ranked eighth in last year's International Cup. The caliber of the 30 international referees made it a truly top-ranking international tournament. Credit for this must go to the Basketball Association of the Republic of China for its role in organizing the tournament and selection of referees. The association also contributed US$80 million to repair and modernize the stadium, and provide proper safety measures and standard playing equipment.
The installation of air-conditioning and new colorful, comfortable seats in the stadium delighted the fans, who previously had to suffer through hours of sitting on hard concrete steps, in a stuffy, uncomfortable atmosphere. A reserved-seat system this year pre vented the scramble for places of previous years. Inevitably, this new system led to complaints from fans who couldn't get seats, and said they could easily have squeezed in under the old system.
The enthusiasm of the spectators was shown by one fan who brought his own loudspeaker to cheer on the players while another unfurled a white banner covered with slogans.
The Korean squad brought a colorful team of cheerleaders, as well as 110 boy scouts who raised the national flag, and cheered their team on to victory.
Even the audience's manners had improved--there were no hisses or boos, and every team received its share of cheers.
An example of the excellent sportsmanship and spirit exhibited on the court was provided when the United States and Korean teams played in the finals. Both teams were evenly matched and the score had been tied more than 11 times. Tension and suspense could be felt on the court and in the grandstands. In the end, the Koreans won by two points. Despite their defeat, members of the American team, gracefully smiling, shook hands with the winning Koreans and congratulated them on a game well played.
After Korea and the United States, China Blue came in third; the Netherlands, fourth; West Germany, fifth; China White, sixth; New Zealand, seventh and Canada, eighth.
Although one of the local teams, the China Blue, did not perform as well as its coaches had hoped for, the players did have ample opportunity to observe the playing skills and coaching techniques of other teams. "We hope we may learn from our experience to become better players in the future," one Republic of China player said.
Distinguished guests included Secretary Stankovic of the Federation of International Basketball Associations, and executive secretary, vice-president (also Executive Committee Member of the International Olympic Committee), and other officials. Also attending were guests from Asian athletic organizations.
At the end of the tournament, the players huddled together, taking pictures and exchanging addresses. Finally, 13 international teams said, "Goodbye, Taipei!" It was a fine farewell to a meeting of international basketball players which stressed the promotion of international goodwill and friendship. As a result of the ROC's professional handling of this year's tournament, the William Jones Cup is certain to become more well known in international basketball circles.
This is especially important to the ROC, whose past status in the international basketball arena was affected by a political decision in 1974. Since then, the ROC has hosted the William Jones tournaments, beginning in 1977 and continuing every year since then.
At first, many countries refused invitations, for political reasons, and the skill of players was not up to international standards. But thanks to the continuing efforts of the organizers, this year's tournament was the best ever, and brought into the limelight many outstanding basketball players.
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