SEREMBAN (Malaysia) - Iran completed the FIBA U16 Women's Asia Cup 2025-Division B Semi-Finals cast following a dominant 62-33 conquest of Malaysia, Wednesday night at the Karisma Arena.
The young Team Melli ran to a 21-8 start into the match before breaking the game wide open in the middle chapters en route to booking a ticket to the final four for the second time in a row, and third all in all.
Such an impressive win also enabled the Iranians to keep their redemption arc going, with the West Asian side hoping to finish the story after settling for a runner-up finish to the Philippines back in 2023.
That loss couldn't get any more heartbreaking as it foiled their bid of securing the Division A promotion, but there's renewed hope this year after returning to the Semi-Finals where they'll face Hong Kong, China.
The Semi-Finals are set on Thursday, September 18, with the other bracket featuring the unbeaten India and Indonesia, who earned their spot by way of a 77-52 victory over Uzbekistan earlier.
Elina Kazemevini starred for Iran with 25 points, netting an efficiency of 22 as she shot 11-of-18 from the floor and also collected 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 6 of the team's 27 steals in 28 minutes of action.
Asma Shadrouh made 9 points, while Hasti Khazaei came close to a double-double with 8 points and 13 rebounds as all but two of Coach Serveh Zarghamyan's players contributed at least a point in the win.
Chin Jo Xin, meanwhile, was the lone double-digit scorer for Malaysia with 12 points in the loss, which crushed their hopes of returning to the podium after taking home the bronze during the 2023 competitions.
The young Harimau will instead look to finish their campaign strongly when they take on Uzbekistan on Thursday as well in the Classification 5-6 game, with the winner sealing a fifth-place finish.
FIBA