FIBA hails Iran’s ‘insane comeback’ against Chinese Taipei at Asia Cup
Iran’s “insane comeback” against Chinese Taipei was hailed by FIBA as one of the key moments of the Asia Cup in Jeddah in August, in the international governing body’s review of the near-ending basketball year.
“No lead is safe, as the old saying in sport goes, and two teams embodied that as much as Iran and New Zealand, who pulled off comebacks of epic proportions on their way to completing half of the semifinals picture,” read the Lookback ’25 article on FIBA’s official website.
“Team Melli did it first, rallying from 21 points down to upend Chinese Taipei 78-75 – a feat made possible in part by Sina Vahedi, even after he was called for three personal fouls just seven minutes into the match.
“‘I was patient on the bench, thinking about defense, offense, everything. And in the second half, we won the game. I’m so happy about that,’ said the eventual All-Star Five member, who finished with 21 points.
“The Tall Blacks would author their own story the next night, fighting back from a deficit as large as 22 points to eliminate Lebanon with an 80-76 victory, thanks to the efforts of Mojave King and Carlin Davison.”
However, Iran, which had beaten Guam (77-52), Japan (78-70), and Syria (82-43) to win Group B, was outclassed by Australia in the semifinals, suffering a comprehensive 92-48 defeat. Australia went on to secure a third successive Asian crown with a 90-89 victory over China.
Greek head coach Sotiris Manolopoulos’s side managed to recover by beating New Zealand 79-73 in the third-place playoff, standing on the podium for the first time since finishing runner-up in 2017.