Japan, New Zealand claim close victories; Host Qatar win on opening day

DOHA (Qatar) - New Zealand fend off Korea, Japan come from behind to beat Iran, and China overcome the Philipppines in a trio of intense games to start the FIBA U16 Asian Championship 2023.

Host Qatar win on opening day for a second year straight, led by a dominating performance from their returning star. Malaysia were also able to claim a win, their first after missing the competition last year.

Meanwhile, Australia stay undefeated and Jordan and Lebanon cruised along to big victories.

Australia begin title defense with resounding win

The Crocs continue where they left off at the FIBA U16 Asian Championship 2022 where they won all games in dominating fashion, beginning the 2023 campaign with a 114-50 win

Australia bursted out of the gates with a 33-14 first quarter and never looked back. The Crocs were led by Indy Cotton who finished the game with 17 points on 5-6 shooting while all players got on the scoreboard with at least 6 points each.

Moreover, all players collected at least one assist in this game for Australia as they compiled for a total of 38 assists - the second most by any team since assists were officially archived in the competition (2013).

Australia now extend their all-time winning streak in the competition to 12 games.

New Zealand hold off Korea for opening win

2022 Semi-Finalist New Zealand claim a positive 83-81 win over Korea, getting revenge on their early loss in the competition last year.

Korea went off to a strong start and commanded the lead for most of the first quarter, but New Zealand were able to shake it off and quickly even things out. By the end of the first half, New Zealand had already bounced back with a balanced attack and built up their lead.

New Zealand continued to expand their lead up to as big as 17 points in the third quarter and looked to cruise through to the final buzzer ahead. However, Korea were not about to bow down easily and clawed their way back into the game in the last minutes of the final quarter.

Even though Korea were able to tie things up, they could not make the final push and New Zealand were able to hold off their opponents in the clutch.

The seal-dealing play was a block from behind by Lachlan Crate (14 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks) that resulted in Hayden Jones (14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) topping it off with a transition dunk to give New Zealand a 4-point lead with only 16 second left.

Korea were led by a star-studded trio of Daniel Edi (18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals), Jihoon Yoon (19 points, 5 three-pointers made, 5 rebounds), and Woohyeok Yang (19 points, 6 assists), but it was ultimately not enough.

Japan come from behind to beat Iran

Japan lost a big lead and found themselves down by almost double-digits, but still found their way back to win 65-62 in exciting fashion against Iran.

The 2022 Finalist got out to an early lead up to as much as 12 points in the first quarter, shouldered by the scoring of Shogo Takata who finished the game with 21 points. However, that lead was shortlived as Iran quickly tied things up early in the second quarter.

As Japan cooled off from their fiery start, Iran kept building up their lead, enough for an 8-point cushion midway through the final quarter.

After going up 59-51, Iran managed to score only 3 more points as Japan blasted away for 14 points of their own to get a hard-earned victory.

Aside from their leading scorer Takata, Japan benefitted from the play of Leon Shingo (13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals) who controlled the tempo and played a huge role on defense. They also got a monster performance down the stretch from the one of the youngest players in the competition Chusonjakku Shiratani. The big man had 9 points (two of which was on the game-sealing and-one basket), 12 rebounds, and 5 steals.

For Iran, Iman Valizadeh scored 17 points to lead the team. 

Jordan cruise to beat Bahrain

After the first few minutes of going back-and-forth, Jordan cruised along to a sizable 85-44 win over Bahrain.

A 13-0 run that spread ended the first half and spanned slightly into the third quarter more than secured the deal for Jordan, who are making their first appearance in the competition in 10 years.

Omar Hijazi dominated the game for Jordan with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 8-11 shooting from the field. Faisal Shawwa had a productive game as well with 15 points on 7-10 shooting with 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Ndao shines in Qatar's opening day win

It was expected for Mohamed Ndao to star in his second appearance at the U16 Asian Championship, but he seemed to have exceeded those expectations in a 91-82 win for Qatar over Saudi Arabia.

The captain played all 40 minutes and recorded 25 points on 10-17 shooting from the field, 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 5 blocks. This resulted in an EFF rating of 40 - becoming only the second player since the statistic has been recorded in the competition (2015) to reach at least 40 EFF.

The game was closely competed throughout the first half with the lead changing hands 18 times, but from the second half onwards, it was all in favor of the hosts.

Abdullah Yassin Mousa, another returning player for Qatar, led the team in scoring with 28 points while playing all 40 minutes as well.

For Saudi Arabia, it was a solid performance from Reda Almatroud (24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals) and Amjad Abdulwahab M Ateek (23 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists), but they will have to fight for their first win in the competition in over a decade in the next game.

Malaysia claim important win over Kazakhstan

In what might have been the most important game for both teams in the Group Phase, Malaysia emerged victorious over Kazakhstan 79-71.

Malaysia feel behind early on after stumbling in the first quarter and allowing Kazakhstan to go on a 11-0 run. However, they quickly gathered themselves to fireback with a 13-0 run to take the lead for good in the second quarter.

Elvin Hoo, Malaysia's sharpshooter through the SEABA Qualifiers was a bit slow to find his range but eventually finished the game with 18 points to lead the team.

Big man Ivan Remezov was the main man for Kazakhstan with 24 points on 10-13 shooting, but the team could not fully utilize their size advantage to get the win.

Lebanon welcome Sri Lanka to U16 Asian Championship

2022 Semi-Finalists Lebanon greeted Sri Lanka to their first-ever FIBA U16 Asian Championship by handing them a 99-45 defeat.

Lebanon left no room for doubt, leading for all but 55 seconds of the game - those of which were the few seconds tied early in the contest.

Jason El Dekss seized the opportunity and scored a daily-high of 32 points on just 21 attempts in under 23 minutes for Lebanon. Ralph Iskandar supported El Dekss with an all-around game of 13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 steals.

Vishwa Herath had a promising game for Sri Lanka with 18 points on 6-11 shooting and 8 rebounds.

China take this round in rivalry matchup versus Philippines

The two rivals did not disappoint in an exciting clash with China ending up on top at the end with an 84-67 win.

The margin only grew to double-digits late in the second half after what was a fun rally back and forth between the two teams in the first half. The Philippines were down by 5 points early in the fourth quarter but failed to score over the last 7 minutes of the game up until a last-second layup that didn't effect the final result.

All 11 players that saw the court for China got on the scoreboard with six players scoring at least 8 points led by Boyuan Zhang (17 points).

For the Philippines, Kiefer Alas led the way with 20 points.

Upcoming games (18 September 2023)

Iran vs Saudi Arabia - 11:30 (GMT+3)
New Zealand vs Jordan - 11:30 (GMT+3)
Australia vs Sri Lanka - 14:30 (GMT+3)
Korea vs Bahrain  - 14:30 (GMT+3)
Japan vs Qatar - 17:00 (GMT+3)
China vs Malaysia - 17:00 (GMT+3)
India vs Lebanon - 21:30 (GMT+3)
Philippines vs Kazakhstan - 21:30 (GMT+3)

Daily Highs

Efficiency: 40 - Mohamed Massamba Ndao (QAT)
Points: 32 - Jason El Dekss (LBN)
Rebounds: 18 - Mohamed Massamba Ndao (QAT)
Assists: 7 - Multiple players
Steals: 6 - Arian Edalatfar (IRI), Ralph Iskandar (LBN)
Blocks: 5 - Mohamed Massamba Ndao (QAT)

Results

Group A
Australia vs India - 114-50
Lebanon vs Sri Lanka -99-45

Group B
Iran vs Japan - 62-65
Qatar vs Saudi Arabia - 91-82

Group C
New Zealand vs Korea -  83-81
Bahrain vs Jordan - 44-85

Group D
Malaysia vs Kazakhstan - 79-71
Philippines vs China - 84-67

FIBA