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FIBA Asia – Iran face Kazakh test in final
TEHRAN (FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Men): Hosts Iran and Kazakhstan took contrasting paths to the final of the 20th FIBA Asia U18 champioship to be held on Friday.
On Thursday, Iran scraped the bottom of their reserves before pipping fellow West Asian rivals Syria 80-78, but Kazakhstan had no trouble in quelling the Japanese challenge with a 103-78 win.
Both the finalists have thus qualified for the FIBA U19 World Championship for Men in New Zealand next year.
Japan and Syria will play off for the bronze, as well as the third World Championship berth from Asia.
Iran and Syria went neck and neck for most duration of the more popular semifinal.
Once, in the third quarter, when Mohammad Amjad scored the lone three-pointer for his team, Iran went on a 13-2 run and seemed to have marched ahead.
But Syria kept clipping back and took the game into the thrilling final seconds.
With 10 seconds left in the game, Belal Gneed leveled the score for Syria at 78-78, with the first of his free-throws, but missed the second.
Mohammed Hasanzadeh collected the final of his game-high 24 rebounds and launched Emad Salmani on a quick counter.
Salmani was fouled, but he missed both his free-throws. Farman lurking around for just that rebound collected and converted and the rest as Iran coach Nebojsa Raicevic termed it “is history.”
“Tomorrow is another game. I’m sure the boys will rise to the occasions,” Raicevic said.
“Playing at home put a lot of pressure on the boys and let’s not forget most of them are inexperienced to handle such pressures,” he added.
“But playing Kazakhstan suits me fine personally, because their game borders on European style, but slightly faster.”
“We are prepared for them,” he said.
Hasanzadeh also returned a game-high 27 points.
Farman had 17 points and used his 207cm height to collect 16 rebounds
Kazakhstan had no trouble whatsoever, against Japan, once their mainstays found their bearing.
Alexander Tyutyunik found the mark only once off four attempts and Anton Arsenyev drew a blank in the first quarter, but coach Vadim Buryakov found his saviors in two players from the bench.
Omirzak Akhmet, coming off the bench, returned a game-high 32 points.
Artyom Skornyakov also off the bench chipped in 17 points. Alexander Tyutyunik scored 15 points and collected six rebounds, but was far his usual self.
“It’s ok. See the important point is we won even without him (Tyutyunik) in top form,” Buryakov said.
“That means that the boys are willing to put in that extra bit of hard work. That’s why this win is very satisfying for me,” he added.
“We have had a couple of tough games. So we are allowed a couple of easy ones,” Buryakov chuckled.
Talking about the final, Buryakov said: “Another test of character for the boys.”
“There’s very little to choose between the teams as far as talent and abilities are concerned. What will matter for us is how the boys handle the crowd pressure,” he added.
“But that can cut both ways. So I hope we handle the pressure better than them,” he said.
Makoto Hiejima led the scoring for the Japanese with 22 points.
Scores
Semifinals
Iran 80 (Mohammed Hasanzadeh 27, Farbod Farman 17, Mehdi Shrijang 10) bt Syria 78 (Samer Bawadekji 22, Alaa Al Sebaay 15). Quarterwise Scores: 21-23, 44-38, 67-64.
Kazakhstan 103 (Omirzak Akhmet 31, Artyom Skornyakov 17, Alexander Ttyutyunik 15) bt Japan 78 (Makoto Hiejima 22, Yuya Nagayoshi 21). Quarterwise Scores: 23-21, 44-38, 67-64.
5-8 placing
China 86 (Ren Junfei 27, Wang Zheng 14, Li Xiaoxu 13) bt Philippines 63 (Matthew Wright 16). Quarterwise Scores: 17-11, 38-32, 66-50.
Korea 93 (Kyungsang Park 21, Jongill Lim 16, Jaeseok Jang 15) bt Lebanon 72 (Vincent El Khouri 18). Quarterwise Scores: 23-15, 48-22, 69-47.
9th place play-off
Chinese Taipei 102 (Lee Ming-Hui 26, Chanj Po-Wi 19, Lin Li-Jen 16) bt Jordan 89 (Louay Obeidi 31, Odai Abuqamar 25). Quarterwise Scores: 26-21, 38-40, 68-73
13th place play-off
India 78 (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 24, Arjun Singh 16, Nitin Shakya 14, Pratham Singh 11) bt UAE 75 (Salah Khalifa Abdalla 30, Khalifa Khalil Ibrahim 16, Qais Qamar Ahmad 15). Quarterwise Scores: 20-19, 40-43, 55-60.
S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia
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