B-Ballers Beat Philippines to Qualify for 2020 Olympic Games
BEIJING (Dispatches) - The Iranian basketball team have qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games after cruising past the Philippines 95 to 75 in the classification phase of the FIBA World Cup in China.
The win, coupled by a 73 to 86 defeat for China at the hands of Nigeria, confirmed Iran’s ticket for Tokyo as the best-ranked team from Asia.
The Iranians, who improved with every game after the disappointing start to their World Cup campaign, needed a win with a big margin to have any chance of progression.
And they duly showed up, hitting their peak against a Philippine side, who will return home empty handed after 5 defeats.
Helped by Haamed Haddadi’s 19-point performance, Iran dictated the terms right from the get-go and opened up such a massive lead that not even a slight slump in the final quarter could hinder their advance.
The Iranians wrapped up their tournament with 2 wins and 3 losses and a point difference of plus 7 as opposed to China’s minus 10.
Iran national basketball team finished in 23rd place in the 2019 FIBA World Cup
The win, coupled by a 73 to 86 defeat for China at the hands of Nigeria, confirmed Iran’s ticket for Tokyo as the best-ranked team from Asia.
The Iranians, who improved with every game after the disappointing start to their World Cup campaign, needed a win with a big margin to have any chance of progression.
And they duly showed up, hitting their peak against a Philippine side, who will return home empty handed after 5 defeats.
Helped by Haamed Haddadi’s 19-point performance, Iran dictated the terms right from the get-go and opened up such a massive lead that not even a slight slump in the final quarter could hinder their advance.
The Iranians wrapped up their tournament with 2 wins and 3 losses and a point difference of plus 7 as opposed to China’s minus 10.
Iran national basketball team finished in 23rd place in the 2019 FIBA World Cup