FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers: India prepare for last push to qualify for tournament finals

The Indian men’s basketball team will face Iran and Qatar in window 3 of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.

The third window of FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers will start from February 20. India are part of Group E which is touted as “Group of Death” given the myriad of scenarios which has opened up qualification chances for all the teams. As things stand, India are third in the group tied with Kazakhstan. They will have a chance to contend for the final four places through the final qualifying tournament if they finish third, but they will lock their places if they end up finishing second in the group.

India will play against first-place Iran in Tehran on February 21 and then will travel to Doha to face Qatar on February 24 in window 3 of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.

Qatar and Iran pose threats to India’s chances given their performances in all three windows. In both games between Qatar and Iran, the result has always been via overtime, their head-to-head is tied 1-1. Both teams have handed India losses in their homecourt, Iran won 53-86 at KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium, Delhi and Qatar came out first 53-69 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai.

India’s journey in the Asia Cup Qualifiers has been a rollercoaster ride with a change in head coach, former G League coach Scott Flemming back to the helm after Veselin Matic was relieved from his duties in May. He delivered an instant impact with a win over Kazakhstan.

The team saw a drastic change in its playing style, which relied on fast-paced offence, perimeter shooting and aggressive defence. The philosophy is about going overdrive on offence and keeping it consistent.

Also Read: FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers: India’s roster, rival players to watch, qualification scenario for window 3 and more

Qatar are coached by Hakan Demir, who was with Iran in the first window and then joined Qatar before the second window. He knows the team way better than anyone else as he gears up to coach for the third time against India.

For Iran, their performances have been consistent, and they have proved why they are a team to be feared in Asia. Iran comes with the experience of playing the 2023 FIBA Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but they couldn’t qualify for the 2024 Olympics.

Also Read: FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers: Schedule, fixtures, results, India squad, live streaming details

Iran’s Mohammed Amini can be a threat on the offensive end, as he was the team’s top scorer in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Salar Monji is another player India need to be wary of, he recorded 14 points with 58.3 FG% and 9 rebounds in the last game. Mike Lewis scored 17 points and Tyler Lee Harris recorded a double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

For Indian men’s basketball team, winning over Qatar and Iran will be a tough given that their players have played non-stop basketball since December. With the current INBL Pro U25 league underway, majority of Indian players are busy in the league and haven’t logged enough minutes on the court due to lingering injuries or to take a break from the intense league schedule. A thing which is alluded by the coaches and players alike.

It is very critical for the team to keep up the momentum they got at the end of the second window. With the gruelling schedule and tough opponents coming back-to-back for India, it’s a tough challenge.

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