Auckland, Nov 14 (IANS) China lost to South Korea 81-80 in a close Group A match of the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying basketball tournament for Asia-Oceania Region at the Trusts Arena here on Thursday.

Huang Sijing led with 14 points for China and grabbed six rebounds, while 20-year-old Park Ji-su had 23 points and eight rebounds for South Korea, reports Xinhua news agency.

Xu Limin, China's head coach, admitted that the opponents performed much better.

"Our young players didn't show enough confidence and ability during the first three quarters," coach Xu said. "We did very well in the fourth quarter, but it was already too late."

In Auckland, China will play against host New Zealand and the Philippines respectively at the weekend.

--IANS kk/bg