Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games:
Iran to play Qatar in basketball opener
Iran will open its bid for a fifth men’s basketball medal in six Asian Games editions against Qatar in Group B next Thursday at Nagoya’s Aichi International Arena.
The full fixture list for the basketball competition at the upcoming multi-sport event was announced by the organizing committee on Tuesday, with 12 men’s teams learning their pathways across the three groups.
Iran will then take on Chinese Taipei on Sept. 12 in a repeat of the thrilling quarterfinal clash at last year’s FIBA Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia, where Iran produced an epic fightback to overcome a 21-point deficit and win 78-75.
The final round of the group fixtures will see Iran take on Jordan on Sept. 13. The two sides met at the preliminary stage of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers in July. Iran comprehensively won 67-49 in Amman before completing a 5-1 run to progress to the second round, making amends for the 73-60 setback against its familiar West Asian foe earlier in the qualifiers in February.
The top two teams from each group will be joined by the two best third-placed teams in the quarterfinals.
Iran won back-to-back bronze medals in 2006 and 2010 and then improved to silver in the following two editions, before finishing empty-handed at Hangzhou 2022 following an 84-83 loss to the Philippines in the quarterfinals.
Greek head coach Sotiris Manolopoulos’s side will enter the Asian Games on the back of a disappointing doubleheader in the second-round Group E of the World Cup qualifiers in Pasay, the Philippines, last week.
Iran suffered an overtime 93-91 defeat against New Zealand before losing 68-56 to the host in a packed Mall of Asia Arena in Manila on Sunday.
The two defeats left Iran third in the group standings with 13 points, three behind Australia and one point adrift of New Zealand.
The bad news for the Greek head coach is that he will have to do without prolific guard Mohammad Amini, who will miss the showpiece due to club commitments with SLUC Nancy Basket in the French top-flight league.
Having been sidelined by a knee injury sustained during the last-four defeat against Australia at the Asia Cup, Amini was part of the squad in Pasay.
Amini chipped in 16 points in 26:55 on the court against New Zealand before adding seven against the Philippines.