FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024: India lose to Iran 53-70
After the historic 72-point mauling at the hands of Korea yesterday, India rebounded strongly against another heavyweight side Iran before losing steam in the final quarter.
After the historic 72-point mauling at the hands of Korea yesterday, India rebounded strongly against another heavyweight side Iran, before succumbing to a 53-70 defeat.
The FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 is underway at the Prince Hamza Sport Hall in Amman, Jordan.
As anticipated, dealing with the speedy Koreans first up had a positive spillover effect on the Indian players - who came out with full intensity on both sides of the ball.
India’s offensive rebounding in particular was impressive, leading to crucial second-chance points in an otherwise low scoring contest. Three of these offensive boards came from centre Mohammad Ishan who finished with 9 rebounds in total, to go along with his 14 points.
Despite being guilty of regularly missing wide open jumpshots especially from the perimeter, India managed to get within one point of Iran, 44-45, late in the third quarter.
However, the final 13 minutes proved to be the Iran show, as the three-time gold medalists pulled away to a 17-point win.
India faces lower-ranked Kuwait on September 4 and will be hopeful of winning and progressing to the pre-quarterfinals, especially considering Kuwait lost by a much bigger 53-90 margin to Iran.
India (Mohammad Ishan 14 pts 9 reb) lost to Iran (Mohammad Mahdi Heydari 18 pts 10 reb, Amirmahyar Keramati 13 pts) 53-70 [16-22, 13-15, 15-17, 9-16]
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