FIBA: Iran target fourth FIBA Asia title in five

For India, Amjyot Singh was the star performer as he bagged 26 points, which was also the highest individual score for either side and the second highest individual score so far in the Championship.

India are nearly certain to qualify for the second round of the FIBA Championship in China, after their win over Malaysia in the opening match.

India and Iran were coming into this match after winning their opening matches against Malaysia and Japan, respectively.

Yang then drew a foul on the next play and made his own charities, but with just three seconds left, the Koreans had to foul Zhou who also shot his free throws for a 76-73 China lead. India held the Iranis to 10-4 at the halfway mark in the first quarter, but the defending champions broke off the shackles and went on a scoring spree for the remaning 5 minutes of the quarter.

Two key factors turned the match in Iran’s favour. Amjyot Singh put up a fight, but the Iranis kept on rotating their players well as the Indians exhausted towards the end.

The second was the fouling out of India’s primary centre Amritpal Singh just before half-time.

Two years ago in Manila, Malaysia lost to Iran, South Korea and China by an average point difference of 70 in the first round before going down to Thailand in a playoff to finish last of 15 teams.

India will play their final Group A match against Japan on Friday.

In addition to Ibrahim, who netted 23 points, Youngblood and Haidar added 18 points each, while Arakji added 14 points and Abdelnour chipped in 12 points with seven rebounds, and was decisive with an offensive rebound late in the game.

After topping Japan 86-48 on Wednesday, Iran continued its good run in Group A on Thursday, beating India 88-66.