FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers: India clinches 3rd spot despite defeat to Qatar
India misses direct qualifying opportunity, but retains a last chance at competing in the premier continental championship to be held in August.
Doha, 24 February 2025: The first-round action of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers concluded for India with a 61-81 loss to hosts Qatar.
The Indian men’s team came out firing in the first quarter and looked poised to walk away with a win. But despite taking an early lead, what followed in the second quarter was nothing short of disastrous. India managed just 4 points in the entire period, while Qatar took full advantage, exposed India's defensive lapses, and ran up the score.
Disastrous Second Quarter
Coach Scott Flemming, who was present courtside after missing the action during India’s previous game against Iran, said:
“If you take the second quarter out, it was a pretty even game. We just struggled to score in that second quarter. We had good shots and missed them and had poor shots and took them. Probably the game right there was the second quarter.”
After the break, India regained momentum in the second half. They moved the ball better and created more scoring opportunities. India won the third quarter and despite a hard-fought fourth quarter the Indian cagers failed to claw their way back. By then, Qatar had already built a comfortable lead, with Tyler Harris adding 24 points to the scoreboard for the home side.
India benefits from Kazakhstan’s earlier no-show
India finished with a 1-5 Win-Loss record in the first round of qualification, but was incredibly lucky to finish third in its group thanks to Kazakhstan’s earlier no-show against Iran.
Both India and bottom-placed Kazakhstan ended with an identical 7 points. But India finished ahead thanks to its marginally superior game points difference.
While Kazakhstan had initially beaten India by 13 points, India had later outclasses the Kazakhs by 19 points to ensure a positive +6 game points differential. That said, had Kazakhstan simply showed up for its Iran game in November, it would have got at least one point (even if it lost), and finished ahead of India.
Where does this leave India?
India’s lack of defensive stability remains a major concern, especially as the team will now play in yet another Qualifying Tournament for third-place teams in one last attempt to keep their FIBA Asia Cup dreams alive.
India will compete against Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Iraq, and Bahrain for one of the remaining four spots in FIBA’s flagship event in Asia, which will take place in August 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The third-place teams' qualifying tournament will feature two groups of three teams each. However, the place and time of the tournament are yet to be decided.
Qatar (Tyler Harris 24 pts & 7 reb, Donte Grantham 11 pts & 6 reb & 6 ast, Ndoye Seydou 15 pts) bt India (Muin Bek 12 pts & 6 ast, Amritpal Singh 10 pts & 4 reb, Harsh Dagar 10 pts & 4 reb & 2 ast) 81-61 [17-18, 25-4, 17-19, 22-20]
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