Tatsiana Likhtarovich was in fine form for the Belarusians, helping them to a 60-47 lead at the end of the third period as they looked set fair to advance to the next round in Istanbul.

But, with the words of coach Tom Maher ringing in their ears, the Chinese players came out for the final quarter determined to leave everything on the court, and they duly delivered.

Shao Ting led the way for the women in red, notching nine of her 23 points in the final 10 minutes as China outscored Belarus 25-7 to eventually seal a first quarter-final place since hosting the tournament in 2002, with a 72-67 win.

"We just stopped making stupid mistakes," said Australian Maher afterwards.

"We were playing an equal game.

"Just that it wasn't showing on the scoreboard.

"Once we cut down those mistakes we were on."

Shao Ting starred for China as they secured a quarter-final place in Turkey
©AFP/Getty Images




The second match in Istanbul saw Ana Dabovic and Jelena Milovanovic lead the way for Serbia with 21 and 17 points respectively as they saw off the challenge of Cuba 86-79.

The Americas champions had led by two points going into the final period, but Dabovic and Milovanovic found their shooting range to continue the Serbs impressive showing at their first Basketball World Championship for Women.

"This is the biggest moment in Serbian women's basketball," said coach Marina Maljkovic.

"We have worked very hard for this.

"And we deserve this."

Meanwhile over in Turkish capital Ankara, France and Canada advanced to the quarter-final stage in much more comfortable fashion with victories over Brazil and Czech Republic respectively.

The French defence was in fine working order, restricting Brazil to just 15 points in the opening two quarters before the European side pushed on to record a 61-48 victory and reach a fourth consecutive quarter-final.

Canada had 20 points to spare in their clash with Czech Republic in the opening match in Ankara, running out 91-71 victors.

Nirra Fields was a bright spark for the Canadians ,while Kim Gaucher top-scored with 17 points.

"It's amazing to now go to the last-eight of the tournament and I am so excited to see the way that we are improving together as a team," said Fields.

"Now I can't wait to see how we perform and the team responds in this last stage."

Nirra Fields (left) and Kim Gaucher helped Canada into the last-eight in Turkey where they will take on Australia ©AFP/Getty Images



Canada will now take on 2006 champions Australia in the first of Friday's (October 3) quarter-finals, all scheduled to take place in Istanbul.

China's reward for their late comeback is a clash with European champions Spain, while Serbia face the daunting prospect of taking on hosts Turkey in front of what is sure to be a partisan home crowd.

The last of the quarter-final matches will see France try to dethrone reigning champions the United States.

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