ALMATY (Kazakhstan) – Palestine sent a few records tumbling while beating Maldives 168-78 and close their engagements in Group B of the FIBA Asia Cup 2029 Pre-Qualifiers at the Baluan Sholaq Sports Palace on Sunday with hosts Kazakhstan powering their way past Kyrgyzstan 88-67 in the all-CABA clash and advance to the Second Round.
With Maldives and Kyrgyzstan losing all their three games, both are out of contention for a place in the top-three.
Sri Lanka, who were enjoying an extended rest day and are scheduled to take on the hosts on Monday will join Kazakhstan and Palestine in the Second Round scheduled during the International Window the coming November-December.
Given the form the two teams were coming into the game, there were only a few who might have doubted Palestine’s prowess.
“We knew we were the stronger of the team,” said Palestine coach Harry Savaya, after his team broke the record for the highest score in any FIBA competition – including the FIBA Basketball World Cup and Olympics.
The previous record stood in the name of Brazil who scored 154 points, against China’s 97, in the 1978 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Manila.
Palestine’s margin of the victory was also the highest in the FIBA Asia Cup qualification history, bettering the record set by Bahrain, who in the 2018 Pre-Qualifiers, defeated Bangladesh 126-52.
Maldives can take heart with their score in defeat contributing to the highest accumulated score in FIBA Asia Cup qualification history with the total of the scores in this game (246) higher than the total score of 214 accounted for when Thailand defeated Mongolia 109-105 in the Preliminary Round of the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 in Indonesia.
Click here for a complete list of FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers records.
“We want to represent our country well every time we step on the court,” said Tamer Habash who was the highest scorer for Palestine with 22 points.
Mohamed Irushan’s 14 points led Maldives.
Kazakhstan came into the game with their eyes set on the prize and delivered to their home fans without much ado.
Daniil Severgin hit wonted form for the first time in the competition with a sublime 8/9 in field attempts, including converting both his three-pointer attempts to score 20 points behind Robert Pan’s 24.
Nazim Adylbekov was once again the leading scorer for Kyrgyzstan with 17 points.
FIBA