Qatar’s Mohamed Mohamed scored 16 points in the 69-63 win over Korea in the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship yesterday.

Agencies/Changshu-Hanan, China


Qatar overcame an early deficit to beat Korea 69-63 yesterday to clinch a quarter-final spot in the FIBA Asia Championship in Changshu-Hanan, China.
The Koreans, coming off an 85-71 triumph over Lebanon, scored the game’s first eight points and led 12-2 but Qatar controlled the tempo and fought their way back, taking a 35-31 advantage to half-time.
Getting 16 points from their 33-year-old centre Mohamed Mohamed and solid contributions from Ali Saad, Trey Johnson (both 15pts) and Khalid Suliman Abdi (10pts), Qatar had the balanced scoring attack they needed. Qatar also had good overall good defense on the Korean shooters, who made just six of 25 (24 percent) from long range.
Qatar controlled the rhythm of the contest, playing at a slower pace. Nineteen of their 48 rebounds came on the offensive glass, which limited Korea’s running game. Korea will be looking to overcome Kazakhstan today to boost their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, the Philippines handed Iran their first defeat of the competition.
Riding on the production of Jayson Castro and Andray Blatche, the Philippines beat Iran 87-73 in Group E action.
This is the first time in recent memory that the Philippines have been able to beat Iran in a FIBA Asia Championship game, and they did it in dazzling fashion. Behind the sublime play of Castro and Blatche, the Filipinos erased Iran’s myth of invincibility and pulled the defending champs back to earth. Blatche outplayed Hamed Haddadi in this one, putting up 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. A couple of players also gave Gilas Pilipinas a big lift of the bench as Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva combined to score 28 points.
Iran had a better start to the contest, leading after one quarter and at the halftime break, but they unraveled amidst a searing second half surge by the Philippines, who turned the tables on their more fancied foes.
Samad Nikkhah Bahrami was the best Iranian player on the floor, scoring 21 points, while Mahdi Kamrani and Sajjad Mashayekhi each tallied 11. Haddadi finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds, but he fouled out in the final frame.
In another Group E match, India trailed for most of this game before unloading a big finishing kick to trip Hong Kong 76-71.
The Indians had a slow start to the game, trailing after one half before flipping the switch in the third and fourth quarters to pull the rug from under the upset-conscious Hong Kongers.
Amjyot Singh dropped another superb performance for India, which have now won back-to-back games in round two and have a good chance of making the Quarter-Finals even if they lose to the Philippines tomorrow.
He was supported by Vishesh Briguvanshi, who tallied 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals, while big man Amrit Pal Singh came alive in the second half and ended up with 8 points and 15 boards.
On the other end, Hong Kong’s charge was carried by the 21-point, 11-rebound game of Wong Chun Wai. Chan Siu Wing and Duncan Reid also did well with a combined 33 points.

RESULTS
India  76 Hong Kong  71
Philippines  87 Iran  73
Japan  74    Palestine     67
Qatar  69    Korea     63
China  90    Lebanon     72
Jordan  87 Kazakhstan 73