Iran cruise past hosts India 83-66 to set up quarterfinal clash against Australia

Iran crushed a billion hopes as they ended India’s challenge with an 83-66 win in the FIBA Under-18 Asia Cup in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening.

Iran undoubtedly were the superior side as their players combined well and with the shooters sinking three pointers midway through the first quarter, their superiority resulted in a halftime scoreline of 47-33.

Though Piyush Choudhary got a couple of shots and with Shekhar Rathee along with Arman and Aakash scoring India still could not match their opponents and could not maintain the tempo.

Qatar captain Abdullah Mousa recorded the highest individual score of 46 points in this championship

Mohammad Yasher, Soheyl Nezhad and Amir Raza Azari were in brilliant form for Iran while for India Piyush Choudhary, Arman and Aakaah Iyappan were among the main scorers.

Japan down Qatar

Japan made it to the next round with a hard fought 80-75 win over Qatar with lead fluctuating between both sides and it was only in the last 3 minutes that Japan took an unassailable lead to romp home in spite of Qatar captain Abdullah Mousa recording the highest individual score of 46 points in this championship.

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Japan face China on Friday which could be a tough encounter with the latter enjoying better height advantage with the winner qualifying for the FIBA Under-19 World Cup in 2027.

Cayman was the pick of the Japan team as he was effective both in offence and controlled the defensive board.  Contributions from Konno, Thompson, McMillan and captain Aru Takahashi all of whom scored in double digits saw Japan just about make it.

For Qatar, Abdullah Mousa and Ziad Elgohary were the scorers.

Chinese Taipei beat Bahrain

Chinese Taipei entered the quarterfinal with an impressive 109-99 win in a high scoring game against Bahrain.

Somto Patrick of Bahrain dunks the ball against Chinese Taipei

Accurate scoring resulting from precision passing enabled Chinese Taipei outscore the Bahrain team in the 4th quarter 34-20 and will meet Korea for a place in the last 4.

Philippines overcome Syria

Philippines overcame a fighting Syria to make an entry into the quarterfinal after registering a 72-63 win. Philippines were trailing 13-15 at the first quarter and got into the lead at halftime (32-31) with a buzzer beater shot from Patrick.

Syria thrived on the missed attempts of the winners who hesitated to drive in as the tall Majak Mathiang was blocking their attempts.  Philippines also could not get their long-range shots adding to their woes.

The third quarter had Philippines breakaway for fastness and outnumbered situations scoring 19 against 13 to stretch the lead to 7.

Lino Jr of Philippines attempts a basket against Syria

George Aidan Green along with Lino Jr and Jan Bennett were scoring even though Majak, Aldassouki and Yehia Kassas did it for Syria.

Results: Iran 83 (Amir Raza Azari 11, Mohammad Yashar 23, Soheyl Nezhad 14, Mohammad Shamsi 11, Hasan Kiadeh 10) beat India 66 (Piyush Choudhary 19, Arman 12, Aakash Iyappan 14, Shekhar Rathee 9).

Japan 80 (Eishin Konno 10, Cayman 19, Thompson 11, McMillan 11, Aru Takahashi 13) beat Qatar 75 (Abdullah Mousa 46, Ziad Elgohary 11).

Chinese Taipei 109 (Yu-sheng Xing 22, Ting-Kuan Liu 33, Shao En-Huang 12, Jia-Han -Huang 15, Carter Coleman 23) beat Bahrain 99 (Hassan Abdul Kadir 36, Somto Patrick 22, Ali Hussain 10, Mahdi Habib 16, Mujtaba Husain 13).

Philippines 72 (Lino Jr 10, Jan Bennett 12, George Aidan Green 16) beat Syria 63 (Aldasssouki 15, Yehia Kassas 14, Majak Mathiang 20).

Quarterfinal line-up: Australia vs Iran; Chinese Taipei vs Korea, China vs Philippines; Japan vs New Zealand.