China Hand Bahrain Heavy Asiad Loss

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s national basketball team suffered their first defeat of the 20th Asian Games yesterday, going down 105-59 to China in their second men’s five-on-five Group C encounter in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

A day after stunning defending champions the Philippines 89-85, the nationals endured a difficult afternoon at Aichi International Arena, leaving them with one victory from two matches.

China took control from the start and raced to a 13-4 advantage midway through the opening quarter. The Bahrainis struggled to slow their opponents, who stretched the gap to 32-11 by the end of the period.

The kingdom’s representatives, coached by Greek-Slovenian Slobodan Subotic, responded well in the second quarter, with JaKarr Sampson, Elijah Thomas and captain Ahmed Alderazi helping them reduce the deficit.

Alderazi struck from long range before Ahmed Haji added another three-pointer late in the half, allowing Bahrain to win the quarter 18-14 and enter the break trailing 46-29.

However, China extended their advantage after the restart. The gap grew to 59-36 midway through the third before the Group C leaders carried a 71-42 lead into the final period.

The Chinese continued to pull away in the fourth, scoring 34 points and passing the century mark during a dominant finish.

Sampson again led Bahrain with 17 points and five rebounds, while Thomas contributed 10 and Alderazi added nine. Mustafa Hussain and Mohammed Buallay finished with seven points apiece.

Liao Sanning paced China with 23 points, while Li Yuezhou scored 18. Wang Junjie and Pang Zhenglin each added 11 as their side completed a second successive victory, having opened with a 99-61 win over Kazakhstan.

China also held a commanding 46-22 advantage in rebounds, helping them maintain control throughout the contest in front of 8,181 spectators.

In yesterday’s other Group C encounter, the Filipinos bounced back from their opening defeat by overcoming Kazakhstan 109-78. Elsewhere, Iran edged Chinese Taipei 72-69 in Group B, while Jordan defeated Qatar 76-65.

Bahrain will now turn their attention to their final preliminary-round assignment against Kazakhstan at 4am, Bahrain time, tomorrow.

The nationals remain in contention for a place in the knockout stage, with the top two teams from each of the three groups and the two best third-placed sides advancing to Wednesday’s quarter-finals.