FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024: India go down against Iran; to face Japan in last classification match

The Indian U18 basketball team lost to Iran in the 5-6th place classification match.

Iran subdued India, 73-59, in the first game of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 classification round, Sunday at the Prince Hamza Hall.

Arian Edalatfar led the way with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 7 steals for an efficiency of 25 as the 1.75 M (5’9″) point guard sparked the third-quarter reversal after figuring in a tough exchange with the SABA Qualifiers winners in the first half.

Edalatfar scored inside for the 40-39 lead early in the said period, which sparked an 8-0 run toward 46-39 advantage to take the driver’s seat the rest of the way.

The Iranians would go on to hike their lead to as high as 19 points twice during the fourth and final quarter before closing out strongly to secure the triumph.

Mardin Mansouri had 15 points and 7 rebounds, while Mohammad Heydari supplied 10 points and 6 rebounds in the victory that earned Iran a chance to replicate their fifth-place finish from the previous competition in 2022 held in Tehran.

Also Read:

• FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024: Schedule, fixtures, results, India squad, live streaming details
• FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024: India’s impressive run ends in quarterfinals against China
• FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024: India stun Lebanon in quarterfinals, reach first semi-final in eight years

Korea beat Japan

The team of Coach Srdjan Jovanovic will try do so versus Korea, who forged the showdown set Monday after escaping Japan, 74-70, in a rematch of the 2022 Final.

Daniel Edi top-scored with 17 points, none more important than the pressure-packed free throws he calmly nailed with 3.5 seconds left that iced the game after their counterparts got to within two, 70-72, from a 15-point halftime deficit.

Yang Jongyun was the only other double-digit scorer for the winning side with 11 although seven other players chipped in at least 3 points in the victory.

Not only did Korea spoil their foes’ comeback attempt, but they also wasted the efforts of Riku Segawa and Leon Watanabe in leading the Japanese.

Segawa finished with 24 points and 6 assists, while Watanabe tallied a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds for an efficiency of 32 in the defeat that relegated the AKATSUKI JAPAN to the Classification 7-8 Game against India on Monday as well.

That match is set at 11:30 local time to open the tournament’s final day, serving as a warmup to the Classification 5-6 between Iran and Korea afterward.

The 5th-place game will be another meeting between the two, having faced each other back in the Group Phase that saw the Koreans come out on top, 83-60, to finish Group B unscathed (3-0) and sweep their way to the quarterfinals.

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