AHMEDABAD (India) - Japan and Iran arranged a meeting for 5th place after disposing of their opponents in the Classification 5-8 games of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2026 at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium, Saturday.
The East Asian side were the first to move up following an 80-75 victory over the Philippines to start off the Final Phase's penultimate gameday, and Team Melli would follow suit after cruising past Chinese Taipei, 105-84.
Per available records, this will now be the seventh time that the perennial contenders are squaring off in the biennial youth competition, with the WABA side owning the head-to-head advantage at 4-2.
The last time these two met was during the 2022 games' Group Phase, which witnessed the Iranians hack out a 68-66 decision behind a solid collective showing led by eventual men's team star Mohammad Amini.
Kenichiro Benedict finished with 20 points to lead the Japanese, who built a 25-16 lead after the first 10 minutes and stayed in front the rest of the way despite the no-quit mentality their Southeast Asian foes showed.
Benedict was part of the crew that repelled Gilas Youth's late rally, joining hands with Aru Takahashi and Kaito Nakamura to widen the gap to 74-65 entering the final minute after the opposition got to within four twice.
Cayman Tsuneoka supplied 15 points and 9 rebounds, while Nakamura added 13 points alongside 6 rebounds and 6 assists for a Japan team hoping to salvage some pride after a Quarter-Final exit at the hands of New Zealand.
The Philippines, on the other hand, were led again by Chog Moral with a game-high 21 points, dropping a second straight 20-point showing as he fired 26 against China in the 'Magic Eight' albeit in a losing effort.
In the other placement game, Iran drew sterling performances from Mani Manouchehri Gigasari and Soheyl Soleyman in crushing their East Asian counterparts with a convincing 21-point triumph.
Gigasari finished with 26 points and 8 rebounds, while Soleyman went 4-of-6 from deep and delivered 22 points in the victory that saw the crew roll to a 34-21 lead after the first before breaking away permanently.
Aside from the tandem, Mohammad Shansi Anbouhi put his name in the U18 Asia Cup record books as he finished with a triple-double of 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists, becoming the third to do so in this tourney alone.
Lebanon's Charbel El Herera and Darim Sultanov of Kazakhstan were the first players to do so during the Group Phase, but only Anbouhi - who also collected 6 steals to his tally - saw his efforts lead to a victory.
The Classification Round is crucial for the participating teams not only for their final rankings in this tournament, but also to determine the Sub-Zone berths in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup two years from now.
FIBA