China breeze to third straight U18 title

DOHA (FIBA Asia U18 Championship/FIBA U19 World Championship) - China eased past Iran, 66-48, to win the 2014 FIBA Asia U18 Championship - their third straight title and 11th overall - while Korea beat Chinese Taipei to claim third place and a spot at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Qi Zhou led the way for China with 16 points, six rebounds and four blocks while Yuchen Zou added 15 points as the Chinese were hardly threatened in the game, jumping ahead 22-12 after 10 minutes and 36-19 at the half.

China actually faced little challenge in the tournament, winning all nine games by an average margin of 43 points.

Just like China, Iran also booked their spot at the 2015 U19 Worlds by reaching the FIBA Asia U18 final. Iran missed out on winning Asian crown number three, settling for their second runner-up finish to go with one third-placed showing. 

In the first China-Iran Final since 2002 - which was won by China - Navid Rezaeifar paced Iran with 13 points.

Korea got 26 points and 17 rebounds from Kim Kyung Won in taking third place while Chinese Taipei got 12 points from Tseng Po-Yu.

The 16-team field for next summer's U19 Worlds is just about set. Only the winner of the FIBA Oceania U18 Championship is still to be determined.

The other teams at the competition next June in Crete are hosts Greece, United States, Argentina, Canada, Dominican Republic, Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Egypt and Tunisia.

FIBA