Iran remains 28th in FIBA World Ranking, fourth in Asia
The Iranian men’s national basketball team retained the 28th spot in the latest FIBA World Ranking.
Collecting 414.1 points, Iran also remained fourth in the list of Asian teams, following Australia – seventh in the World Ranking – Japan (21) and New Zealand (22).
The latest ranking came after Iran came out on top against India and Kazakhstan to win Group E of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in February.
Teenage prodigy Mohammad Amini contributed with a game-high 33 points, as well as seven rebounds, as Iran routed 106-55 at Tehran’s Azadi Basketball Hall last week.
Sina Vahidi chipped in 20 points, while Matin Aqajanpour finished on 16 points, dropping half of the team’s 8 three-pointers, as all players of Greek coach Sotirios Manolopoulos got on the scoresheet during last Monday’s 88-45 away win against Kazakhstan.
Iran finished the qualifiers with a 5-1 record, with the three-time Asian champion’s lone defeat coming against Qatar, and former Iran coach Hakan Demir, last November.
Joining Iran and Qatar in August’s finals are host Saudi Arabia, two-time reigning champion Australia, Japan, Philippines, New Zealand, Lebanon, Jordan, South Korea, Syria, and China – the most decorated team in the competition with 16 titles – with four spots remaining up for grabs.
Iran, a back-to-back champion in 2007 and 2009, will be a chasing a first Asian crown since 2013, having finished third in 2015 before the final defeat against Australia in the 2017 edition.