India overcome Afghanistan to reach Asian Games preliminary round

Jagdeep Singh

India - Afghanistan 83:76

India will play in the Asian Games preliminary round. They held off Afghanistan yesterday to seal their birth in Group F. India will now take on Qatar, Iran, Philippines, Japan and Taiwan for the chance to stay in the title race. Afghanistan got to a slightly better start to the game. They earned a 16:14 lead ten minutes into the game. Afghanistan stayed in control in the second period. They went on an 18:7 run to establish a 38:30 halftime advantage. India bounced back in the third term. They used a 12:3 rally to level things up at 53. India increased the tempo in the final minutes. They triggered a 14:7 surge that brought them the victory. Japdeep Singh (199-C-86) came up with 22 points to lead the effort. Trideep Rai (190-F-83) contributed 18 points and 7 rebounds, while Hareesh Koroth (185-G-84) netted 17 points in the win. Safi Mojaddidi (183-G-87) responded with game-high 25 points for Afghanistan. Ali Noorzad (193-G-85) netted 15 points in the loss.

India: Japdeep Singh 22, Trideep Rai 18, Hareesh Koroth 17
Afghanistan: Safi Mojaddidi 25, Ali Noorzad 15