AMMAN (Jordan) - Iran have completed the 2-0 sweep over Syria, following the 73-52 victory earlier today at the Prince Hamza stadium in Jordan.
In the process, Team Melli's veteran power forward improved upon a personal milestone unlikely to be replicated anytime soon.
Iran top Group C
Iran have finished their First Round engagements by topping the Group C table with a 5-1 record.
They head into the Second Round facing the likes of Australia, Philippines and New Zealand.
The top three teams from Group A and Group C will form Group E in the Second Round, carrying over all results from the First Round.
Group A |
|
|---|---|
Qualified | Australia, Philippines, New Zealand |
In contention |
|
Eliminated | Guam |
Group C |
|
|---|---|
Qualified | Jordan, Iran, Syria |
In contention |
|
Eliminated | Iraq |
No doubt these are different foes than Iran have had to face in the first three qualifying windows, maybe even a bit tougher according to the FIBA World Rankings.
But one thing is certain: Kazemi will continue to clean up the boards.
Wildest part?
He will probably have more boards than points despite playing the most minutes for Iran on average.
Kazemi's special statline
Remarkably, in all six World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers games so far, he has pulled down higher number of rebounds than scored points.
2027 World Cup Qualifiers | Points | Rebounds |
|---|---|---|
9 | 10 | |
4 | 8 | |
7 | 12 | |
3 | 12 | |
7 | 11 | |
4 | 11 |
Significantly, this isn't a one-off restricted to the 2027 qualifiers.
Far from it - as Kazemi fans should have been accustomed to by now.
A deeper dive into Kazemi's performances in the 2023 and 2019 World Cup Qualifiers reveals a similar selflessness, in 7 out of 10 games, and 5 out of 8 games, respectively.
At 2023 World Cup Qualifiers
Game | Points | Rebounds |
|---|---|---|
10 | 26 | |
14 | 17 | |
1 | 6 | |
6 | 7 | |
12 | 17 | |
4 | 7 | |
5 | 8 |
At 2019 World Cup Qualifiers
Game | Points | Rebounds |
|---|---|---|
4 | 17 | |
7 | 8 | |
12 | 14 | |
6 | 7 | |
0 | 6 |
He Can Score too!
What makes the 36-year-old 202 cm / 6'7" power forward stand out is that when required, he is more than capable of putting up points too, registering double-digit scores in multiple games.
Top-scoring World Cup Qualifiers games
But he doesn't need to
While Air Kazemi can get buckets, he hasn't needed to in these qualifiers so far, thanks to a well-balanced pool of players that allows him to be comfortable in his role as a facilitator and board gobbler.
Iran's double-digit Scorers
# | Players | GP | PTS |
17 | 6 | 11.8 | |
10 | 6 | 10.5 | |
3 | 2 | 16.5 | |
8 | 2 | 16.5 |
King Kazemi
Certainly one-of-one.
Year | Event | GP | PPG | RPG | APG | EFF |
5 | 6 | 10.6 | 3 | 16.2 | ||
10 | 7.9 | 11.1 | 3.4 | 18.1 | ||
8 | 7.1 | 9.4 | 2.6 | 16.6 |
FIBA