MAS - Day 1 Round-Up: FIBA Asia U16 Championship

JOHOR BAHRU (FIBA Asia U16 Championship) - Philippines' Overtime 64-59 triumph over Japan in Group B and Syria's hard-fought 53-52 win over Kuwait in Group C sparked the opening day's proceedings of the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship at Stadium Bandaraya on Thursday.

In another Group B game, Kazakhstan used their height advantage to good effect to douse Bahrain's enthusiasm 63-54.

In Group A action, China carried too many guns to outplay Saudi Arabia 109-29 and Jordan looked better organized and translated that into a 57-31 win.

Korea had started the proceedings for the day with a runaway 101-33 victory over Singapore in Group C.

In Group D, Iran were clinical in beating Chinese Taipei 87-74 and hosts Malaysia brought the curtains down for the day outplaying Thailand 80-44.

China, Jordan off to a confident start

Coach Fan Bin's boys played with necessary strength and solidity that is expected of a Chinese team against Saudi Arabia.

Guo Ailun one of the lesser unknown players in the Championship led the scoring for China, and thereby the game, with 20 points.

Fan Bin pressed full-court for most part of all the quarters and that only added to Saudi Arabia's woes.

It took all of three-quarters of the third quarter for Saudi Arabia to cross double-digits in scoring, but all the running and the experience of having played China in the first game should keep in good stead for the rest of the Championship.

Similarly, Jordan too controlled the proceedings against India.

Jordan, who finished runners-up to Iran in the WABA U16 Championship at Beirut recently, began in a breeze outscoring their rivals 11-2 in the first five minutes and only grew in strength and scoring there after.

Malek Kanaan led the scoring for the game with 18 points with the strong show in the boards by Abdullah Aljarar'ah and Mohammad Alshammi lending support.

Aljarar'ah collected 10 rebounds and Alshammi had 12 boards to his name.

Ajay Pratap Singh was the highest scorer for India with nine points.

Filipinos, Kazakhs off to a winning start

Philippines staged a marvelous rally twice during regulation time to push their Group B game into Overtime and eked out the narrow win over Japan.

Philippines trailed 19-23 at the end of the first half, but outscored Japan 10-6 in the first five minutes of the third quarter.

And when Japan seem to regain their bearings and ended the third quarter 38-36, Philippines sprang a 7-0 run in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.

Kiefer Ravena was the leader of the Filipino charge scoring 13 of his game-high 25 points in the second half of regulation time. Ravena also went on to score of seven of his team's points in Overtime.

Japan withered where Philippines flourished.

Gulf sub-zone U17 champions Bahrain took a lot of fervour and enthusiasm into their game against Kazakhstan, but against the much taller, and therefore superior, Middle Asian rivals those factors proved insufficient.

Alexander Zhigulin, Kazakhstan's upcoming star, led the game with a double-double. His 20 points and 15 rebounds came as a welcome relief for an otherwise haggard coach Mikhail Lonshanov.

"You saw the way they surprised us with their speed. And our players began to get nervous," Lonshanov said.

"But I'm happy for a win," he added.

Sayed Hasan Ali and Ali Ahmed Jamal each scored 16 points for Bahrain, who at one point in the third quarter brought the game as close to three points.

"But they were much taller. You can't put pressure all the time," said Bahrain coach Milad Aqeel.

"Also their quality is much higher," he added.

Contrasting win for Syria, Korea

Korea had no trouble in hitting the groove right away against Singapore.

The East Asian giants scored the first 12 points of the game and led 34-10 at the end of the first quarter, playing for time after that.

Hyosub Shin scored 14 points and grabbed two defensive rebounds in the Korean opening avalanche and went on to top score the game with 25 points and three boards.

Russel Low, with 10 points, was the highest scorer for Singapore.

WABA bronze medalists Syria survived some heart-stopping scares before scraping past Kuwait.

Syria led the game for the most of the first half, which ended 22-17 in the West Asian nation's favour, but Kuwait staged a fantastic rally in the opening minutes of the third quarter and kept their more fancied rivals within touching distance for the rest of the game.

Shuaib Hussain who led Kuwait's scoring with 18 points, committed a ball-handling turnover with his side 52-51 up and about 20 seconds left on the clock.

Mahmmoud Trub who otherwise was inconspicuous grabbed the resultant injection of ball and went on to cap his lay-up for what eventually was the winning basket of the game.

Aghyad Rahal with a game-high 20 points was the leading scorer for Syria.

Effervescent, efficient Iran

Iran displayed effervescence, enthusiasm and, most importantly, eye-catching efficiency to defeat Chinese Taipei.

Ghasem Kiani's boys, aiming to complete a hat-trick of FIBA Asia titles - Iran are the reigning FIBA Asia champions in Senior Men as well as the U18 section - controlled the proceedings right from the word go.

Soheil Yousefi, who had led the scoring charts for Iran when they won the WABA U16 Championship couple of weeks ago, was the leader of the West Asian powerhouse's charge with 21 points.

Amir Sedighi and Arman Zangeneh played true to their promise - the latter returning a double-double - as Mir Fattahi returned a fantastic 80% field record (8/10 including converint the lone three-pointer attempt).

Zangeneh added 12 boards to go with his 14 points.

Chen Ying-chun's game-high 26 was a consolation for Taipei, who might just have their toughest opponents in their Group in the opening game.

Loh Shee Wong was the most conspicuous player for Malaysia, leading the scoring for the day's games with 34 points.

Loephong Kongtawee's 15 was the highest for Thailand

Scores

Group A

China 109 (Guo Ailun 20, Zhu Huxang 17, Ding Yanyuhang 14, Ju Mingxin 13, Luo Hanchen 10) bt Saudi Arabia 29 (Mohammed Alhosawe 10). Quarterwise Scores: 23-4, 45-6, 85-13.

Jordan 57 (Malek Kanaan 18) bt India 31 (Ajay Pratap Singh 9). Quarterwise Scores: 27-6, 37-18, 48-27.

Group B

Kazakhstan 63 (Alexander Zhigulin 20, Alexey Kuruchko 15) bt Bahrain 54 (Sayed Hasan Ali 16, Ali Ahmed Jamal 16). Quarterwise Scores: 18-14, 32-23, 50-44.

Philippines 64 (Kiefer Ravena 25) bt Japan 59 (Taikie Uehara 15, Ryo Tawatari 15, Kebin Hareyama 14). Quarterwise Scores: 5-10, 19-23, 36-38, 50-50.

Group C

Korea 101 (Hyosub Shin 25, Jonghyun Lee 16, Donyeop Lee 14) bt Singapore 33 (Russel Low 10). Quarterwise Scores: 34-10, 52-20, 81-24.

Syria 53 (Aghyad Rahal 20) bt Kuwait 52 (Shuaib Hussain 18, Abdulrahman Alshammari 12, Mashari Abu Dhom 11, Abdullah Albader 11). Quarterwise Scores: 11-4, 22-17, 42-34.

Group D

Iran 87 (Soheil Yousefi 21, Mir Fattahi 19, Amir Sedighi 19, Arman Zangeneh 14) bt Chinese Taipei 74 (Chen Ying-chun 26, Kap Po-yu 10). Quarterwise Scores: 30-8, 48-23, 67-45.

Malaysia (Loh Shee Wong 34) bt Thailand (Loephong Kongtawee 15). Quarterwise Scores: 19-8, 34-23, 50-33.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia