Qatar’s Abdulrahman Sadd (centre) rises for the basket during their FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship match against Malaysia at Al Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram
By Yash Mudgal/Doha
Hosts Qatar sneaked into the second round of FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship despite losing its last Group ‘A’ match against Malaysia 70-78 at Al Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday.
After trailing in the first quarter, Malaysia’s Wee Joon Lock, who scored 28 points, and Tan Wing, with 13 points, combined well to earn a hard fought victory over their strong rivals.
Qatar’s most experienced player Abdulrahman Sadd, who played for 30 minutes, scored 28 points while Kamal al-Shawaqfeh scored 14.
“As I said yesterday that it will be a competitive game. We have a very small squad. Boys were really tired after first two games. But full credit goes to Malaysia. They played a very good game. They really worked hard they are tough and I am very impressed with them,” Qatar coach Brian Lester said.
Gharafa star Sadd’s absence in the second quarter, as he committed three fouls, proved crucial for the hosts in the close match.
“We kept him out after three fouls as we don’t have many replacements. We used him again in the third and fourth period, and he played superbly to score game-high 28 points,” Lester said.
“We are in the second round with Malaysia and it will be difficult for us as we are not carrying any points there,” he said.
Malaysia’s first win in the group pushed them with the hosts and India in a three-way tie for two spots in the second round with all three teams having won only one of their three games.
The eight-point margin helped Malaysia finish with 0.993 in goals average, while India, who lost to China earlier in the day, had finished with 0.973.
Although the margin of victory was not sufficient for Malaysia to surpass Qatar – who finished with an average of 1.033 – it was Malaysia who carried forward points into the second round on head-to-head basis. Qatar will have to play from scratch in their second round matches against Korea, Philippines and Jordan.
Earlier, former champions South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong also registered victories in their last group encounters to enter next round.
Two-time champions China lived up to their reputation by finishing the first round campaign with three consecutive victories. After beating Malaysia and Qatar, the Chinese colts thrashed India 100-40 yesterday.
Indian boys had no answer for their superior rivals, who are aiming for their 11th title.
Qi Zhou emerged as the star for China as he scored 21 points and six rebounds, while Yuchen Zou added 19 points for his side. Narender and Gurvinder Singh Gill contributed 13 points each for India.
Chinese Taipei didn’t have it easy against Japan, the semi-finalists of the edition in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, but they managed to eke out an 84-75 win.
In the first match of the day, Radge Tongco’s 24-point effort on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc went in vain as Philippines (69-87) failed to overcome their nemesis South Korea in their second match of the championship. The other notable contribution came from Matthew Dyke, who scored 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Leonard Santillan’s three-pointer was the only other successful effort from beyond the arc. Overall Philippines shot a mere 29-80 – as against Korea’s 33-74 – on the field. South Korea’s Song Kyochang, Kwon Hyeokjoon and Kim Kyungwon were composed enough to beat the Filipino speed and accounted for 17 points apiece. Kim also added game-high 15 rebounds.
The Koreans, with their floor work, limited the other members of the Philippine squad, including former La Salle Greenhills stalwart Kobe Paras, who scored only six points for the second straight day and went a paltry 3-of-14 from the field.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong, who have a best-ever sixth-place finish thrice in the championship, defeated Iraq 94-86 and booked the third available slot for the second round from Group D. Ka Chung led the scoring for Hong Kong with 31 points, 19 of them coming in the second half.
Today’s Schedule
9am: Kuwait vs Chinese Taipei
11am: Kazakhstan vs Japan
1pm: Iran vs Hong Kong
3pm: China vs Jordan
5pm: Qatar vs Philippines
7pm: Malaysia South Korea
