Bahrain Storm Into Asiad Last Eight

The nationals will now face Group B winners Iran at Aichi International Arena tomorrow at 7am, Bahrain time, for a place in Friday’s semi-finals.

Bahrain recovered from a slow start against Kazakhstan, overturning a 12-7 deficit with a devastating 21-3 run to close the opening quarter ahead 28-15.

Their opponents reduced the gap to eight midway through the second period, but the Reds responded by scoring 19 of the next 30 points to take a 55-39 advantage into half-time.

The contest remained firmly in their control after the restart. They extended their lead to 21 by the end of the third quarter and moved as many as 27 clear during the fourth before passing the century mark in the closing minute.

JaKarr Sampson led the way with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Mustafa Hussain contributed 20 points and eight assists.

Elijah Thomas added 16 points, Ahmed Haji scored 14 off the bench and Uros Ilic chipped in with eight.

Daniil Severgin paced Kazakhstan with 16 points, while Anton Bykov finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Bahrain also forced 21 turnovers, converting them into 24 points, and scored 23 fast-break points during an energetic all-round display.

The victory completed an encouraging preliminary-round campaign for the kingdom, which began with an 89-85 upset of the Philippines before a 105-59 defeat to unbeaten group winners China.

Iran reached the knockout stage after recovering from a 59-53 opening defeat to Qatar with successive victories over Chinese Taipei and Jordan.

The other quarter-finals will see Chinese Taipei face hosts Japan, China meet Saudi Arabia and South Korea take on Jordan.

The semi-finals take place on Friday, followed by the bronze and gold-medal games on Sunday.