Beijing, Xinjiang advance to CBA Club Cup quarterfinals

The first phase of the inaugural CBA Club Cup ended with the Beijing Ducks beating the Nanjing Monkey Kings and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers defeating the Liaoning Flying Leopards to advance to February's quarterfinals, after both teams finished with three wins and one defeat on Sunday in Group D in Qingdao.

On the last day of pool play in the first CBA Club Cup, the Beijing Ducks entered their final contest in Group D, widely considered the toughest in the tournament, knowing a win over Nanjing would clinch a place in the knockout phase. Eugene German, who sprained his ankle earlier in the week against the Liaoning Flying Leopards, returned to action against the Monkey Kings, and scored a game-high 27 points, before crediting his six-month-old son as the inspiration for the outstanding performance.

The German got plenty of help from Anunwa Omot, who added 20 points to help Beijing seal a 91-75 victory. Xu Limin's team marched into the quarterfinals with three wins and one loss, while Nanjing bowed out with one win and three losses.

"We treated this game as a decisive battle. We won the game, and our players also made breakthroughs in their mentality, so overall, I'm very satisfied with our performance here," said Beijing coach Xu Limin. 

In the evening game, Xinjiang defeated Liaoning to secure Group D's other qualifying spot. The Flying Tigers and Ducks both finished with the same record, but a head-to-head victory meant coach Liu Wei's men advanced as the leaders.

"I think the Club Cup has great significance for our team. Our young players got more opportunities to play, while our foreign players now fit in better with the team, so I'm very satisfied," said Xinjiang's Liu. 

With the opening stage of the inaugural CBA Club Cup coming to an end, Xinjiang and Beijing can now look forward to the knockout phase, after surviving a so-called "group of death" featuring 10 games over 5 days, which provided an unprecedented viewing experience for fans.

The knockout phase will take place during the league break in February. The eight teams that qualified from the four groups will compete in a single-elimination tournament to determine the champion. Meanwhile, the second stage of the regular season will tip off on November 27.