FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers: Indian basketball team goes down against Qatar in final group game

The Indian men’s basketball team lost 81-61 to Qatar in its final Group E match of the second round of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers on Monday and consequently failed to advance to the main event directly. The loss means that India finished third in their group despite being tied with bottom-placed Kazakhstan on seven points. India finished above Kazakhstan since they have a higher game points difference in direct matches between the two. The Indian basketball team beat Kazakhstan 88-69 in their previous meeting between the two and lost 63-50 in their first Group E encounter. As the third-placed team from the group, India will now compete in a separate qualifying tournament for the remaining four spots available in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025, which is scheduled in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in August. The Islamic Republic of Iran, who beat Kazakhstan 88-45 in the other Group E match, and Qatar finished as the top two teams in the group to bag the two direct spots in the Asia Cup on offer from the second round of the qualifiers. During Monday’s match played at the Al Gharafa Sports Club in Doha, Qatar’s Tyler Harris (208-C-1993, college: Auburn) scored a game-high 24 points while Muin Hafeez (189-PG-1996) was India’s top-scorer with 12 points. Qatar got the action underway and scored the first points of the evening. India responded strongly by going on a nine-to-nothing run and taking a 9-2 lead. Ranked 78th in the world, the Indian basketball team led for the remainder of the first quarter but Qatar did close the deficit, making it 18-17 at the end of the opening quarter. The second quarter saw Qatar, 92nd in the basketball rankings, up the ante as they moved into the lead after scoring 19 unanswered points to end the first half with a 42-22 lead. India earned the first four points of the third quarter and tried to stage a comeback. However, Qatar ensured that they managed to keep a sizable lead even though they were outscored by India in the third quarter. While India added 19 points to their total, Qatar weren’t far behind as they scored 15 points to keep a 59-41 lead at the end of the third quarter. The final quarter of the match witnessed Qatar outscore India by 22-20 as they went on to register a convincing win against a higher-ranked opposition.
Courtesy of: olympics.com