Iran beats Netherlands for historic world wheelchair basketball bronze
Iran grabbed a historic bronze medal at the IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Dubai, the UAE, thanks to a 72-54 victory over the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Morteza Abedi contributed 19 points, 18 rebounds, and three assists to a maiden medal for Iran at the competition, while Omid Hadi-Azhar also finished on 19 points, while registering eight rebounds and 11 assists.
Hakim Mansouri and Mohammad-Hassan Sayyari chipped in 11 points apiece for the Asian side, which fell to a 64-44 defeat against the Great Britain in the semifinals.
Dutchman Mendel Op Den Orth scored a game-high 24 points, followed by teammate Robin Poggenwisch, who had 21 points, as well as eight rebounds and nine assists.
Iran got off to a flying start to the game in Dubai WTC Court 1 – winning the first period 25-15 – and never looked back through the contest as Mohammadreza Dastyar’s men went into halftime with a 42-31 lead.
Iran, which had been beaten by Australia in the third-place match in the previous edition in 2018, increased the gap to 16 points in the third quarter, before a 14-12 triumph in the final period sealed the historic triumph for the country.
Dastyar’s team had a slow start to its campaign in Dubai and suffered back-to-back defeats against Team GB (90-59) and USA (82-74) – the two men’s finalists on Tuesday – before an 83-41 win against Iraq saw the Iranians progress to the knockout phase as the third team in Group D.
Iran beat France 89-79 in the last-16 round and then came out on top against Germany with a 70-68 scoreline for a place in the semifinals.
The 14th edition of the quadrennial event was initially scheduled for November last year but was moved to the new date to avoid clashing with the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.