FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia: India 72-95 Saudi Arabia Highlights

Hello and welcome to Khel Now’s live blog for the India vs Saudi Arabia live match in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia 2023. Please wait for the blog to load.

The Indian men’s basketball team will face Saudi Arabia in their fourth match of the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia 2023 on Wednesday. India lost a close encounter to higher-ranked Kazakhstan in the previous encounter and will now look to bounce back after a day’s break.

Muthu Krishnan will be the player to watch out against Saudi Arabia after having scored 13 and 18 points respectively in the previous two matches. In the last match, he single-handedly reduced the nine-points deficit in the third quarter and helped India regain back its lead. Brar played a pivotal role in defence helping India take the rebound and scoring two pointers whenever required. Hafeez after scoring 14 points against Indonesia could muster only three points against Kazakhstan.

Only one team will advance from the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia. The team that tops the table at the end of the Asia leg will advance to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, scheduled to be held in 2024.

The FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia 2023 is taking place in Damascus, Syria. It kick-started on August 12 (Saturday). A total of six basketball teams are competing in the tournament. They are — India, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and hosts Syria. The tournament is being played in a single-legged round-robin format with only the team that finishes on top qualifying for the final round.

The Republic of Korea and Chinese Taipei were initially part of the tournament but pulled earlier this month. due to security concerns in violence-hit Syria. Their draw resulted in a change in the playing format. While teams were initially divided into two groups of four teams each, now teams will play each other at least once.

India, who are ranked 82nd, made it to the pre-qualifying event after qualifying for the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers. The Indian men’s basketball team will be led by Vishesh Bhriguvanshi.

Kazakhstan (65) are the highest-ranked nation in the tournament, followed by Saudi Arabia (68), hosts Syria (72) and Bahrain (84).

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