Action from the Qatar-Kazakhstan match in the Asian Cup in Changsha, China, yesterday. Right: Qatar players celebrate after their victory.

FIBA/Changsha, China

Kazakhstan’s Pavel Ilin hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left to force overtime but couldn’t stop Qatar  from winning their opening match in the FIBA Asia Championship here yesterday.
Clinton Johnson made a pair of free-throws early in the overtime to give Qatar a 73-71 lead and the side coached by Vasileios Fragkias stayed in front the rest of the way to clinch a 79-75 victory.
Kazakhstan led by as many as 12 points in the game but ended up enduring a tough defeat in a hard Group D.
Kazakhstan were within striking distance in the overtime, down 75-72 with 1:59 remaining when Anton Ponomarev drew a foul and went to the charity stripe. He only cashed in on one of his two attempts and Johnson went to the other end and had a three-point lead for a five-point advantage.
Qatar finished with 26 points in the paint to just eight for Kazakhstan and their bench finished with 20 points to just 10 for the opponents.
Johnson was immense for Qatar, not only scoring 31 points and corralling 14 rebounds but making big plays when the game hung in the balance.
Kazakhstan lost a heartbreaker but showed some battling qualities in this contest which suggest they will be tough opposition for the battles ahead. For Qatar, a narrow win bodes well for their campaign.
Meanwhile, Palestine pulled off the shock of the opening day when they came from behind and beat the Philippines at the 16-team event in China.
Trailing by as many as 16 points early in the second quarter of the Group B game, the Palestinians, playing in the tournament for the first time, battled back to claim a 75-73 win.
Jamal Abu Shamala connected on six of his shots from long range and finished with a game-high 26 points and 15 rebounds for Palestine.
Sani Sakakini added 22 points for Palestine, while Andray Blatche had 21 points and 12 rebounds in a losing cause.
Sakakini blocked a potential game-winning three-pointer by Blatche at the buzzer.
“We certainly didn’t come here just to play some games,” Sakakini said.
“We came to win.”
Making Palestine’s win all the more impressive is that the Philippines finished runners-up to Iran in Manila two years ago and last summer competed at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Those teams were led by Chot Reyes, while Tab Baldwin has the reins to the squad now.
Iran opened their quest for a fourth title by routing Japan, 86-48, in Group A.
Japan held the initiative early, leading by three midway through the first quarter, but Iran eventually got to grips with their opponents got outstanding play from Oshin Sahakian to take the lead for good.
Sahakian led the way for Team Melli with 15 points, while Mohammad Hassanzadeh added 13 points off the bench.
India took command of their opening day clash with Malaysia in the first half and then lowered the boom in the third quarter in a 102-73 Group A triumph.
Amjyot Singh had 24 points to lead India in scoring while teammate Akilan Pari contributed 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and a couple of steals.
Korea buried 15 of their 24 attempts from long range and cruised past Jordan in Group C, 87-60.
Korea had five players hit at least once from beyond the arc as they put on a shooting clinic.
Cho Sung-Min paced Korea with 19 points.