DAY 6 OF THE 2011 FIBA-ASIA U16 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Satnam Bhamara's 32-point performance
went in vain as Iraq beat India.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

After the JUMP, you'll find scores, commentary and photos from Day 6 of the 2011 FIBA-Asia U16 Championships in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

IRAQ over INDIA, 72-64

IRQ 72 - Razzaq 27, Hamzah 21, Sabri 9, Abdullah 4, Ali 4, Ismael 4, Abdullhussein 2, Ahmed 1, Andulqaer 0, Saeed 0, Mahdi 0

IND 64 - Bhamara 32, Singh 10, Bhaupur 8, Atwal 6, Sanjeev 3, Narender 3, Saminathan 2, Ludhiana 0

QS: 14-15, 40-30, 55-49, 72-64

- As expected, Iraq had a lot of trouble containing Indian giant Satnam Bhamara, but as long as they put the clamps on India's other scorers, then everything went well. The Iraqi defense forced 23 Indian turnovers while coach Mohammed Jasim Mohammed's bench outscored JP Singh's significantly, 20-11.

- Ahmed Razzaq and Karrar Hamzah paired up for 48 Iraqi points. They gave the Indian defense fits trying to catch them, and they will surely try to do the same thing to the Filipino defense tomorrow in the quarterfinals.

- Bhamara shot an impressive 13-of-17 from the floor, but he was atrocious from the stripe, completing just 6 of his 14 free throws. Ajay Singh was the only other Indian in twin digits at 10 points. India fails to advance to the quarterfinals and is relegated to the positioning for the 9th-12th places.

Ali Abdullhussein tries a pirouette shot
against the Indian defense.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Ahmed Razzaq fights for the rebound.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

TAIWAN over LEBANON, 70-61

TPE 70 - Lu 24, Chen PL 11, Pan 9, Wang 8, Wu 6, Lee 4, Huang Cy 4, Liu 2, Yeh 2, Chen CJ 0

LIB 61 - Zeinoun 10, El-Kaissi 10, Hadidian 10, Al-Agha 8, Salem 8, Daaboul 7, Abou Jaoude 4, Kabalan 2, Assaf 2, Wehbe 0, Kourjian 0

QS: 15-20, 31-34, 53-48, 70-61

- Lebanon took it easy against the Taiwanese and they paid for it, even though the loss doesn't affect the standings in any way. Lebanon's defense allowed Taiwan to make 9 of its 29 three-point attempts and gave away 25 free throws, 15 of which were converted by coach Lin Cheng-Ming's wards. With this win, Taiwan salvages some pride going into the 9th-12th place round.

- Lu Kuan-Shiuan found his mark again after a cold spell in the last couple of games. He made 50% of his field goals, including 4 triples, good for 24 markers. Chen Po-Liang backed him up quite nicely with 11 points and 8 blocks.

- Three guys finished in double-figures for the Lebanese, all with 10 points -- Albert Zeinoun, Ezzat El-Kaissi, and Gerard Hadidian. Star wingman Jimmy Salem played just 17 minutes and scored 8 points. Lebanon advances to the Final 8 against Group F's #2 team, Japan.

Youssef Wehbe hacks a charging Taiwanese player.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Albert Zeinoun tries a runner.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Chen Po-Liang and Yaccoub Al-Agha go for the jump.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

CHINA over SOUTH KOREA, 73-42

CHN 83 - Zhou 19, Heng 11, Liu B 10, Yu 7, Yan 7, Guo 6, Zhao 5, Lai 4, Xu 2, Luo 2, Liu K 0, Pan 0

KOR 42 - Kim NH 13, Kim MK 8, Kim GC 5, Shin 5, Kim GM 5, Koh 2, Heo 2, Yun 2, Lee 0, Won 0, Kim Y 0

QS: 20-10, 38-15, 58-27, 73-42

- Many people were expecting this to serve as China's first real test in the competition, but it turned out to be a humdrum affair instead. If one considers that Korea didn't play its 6'8 star center Park In-Tae, however, then the result should no longer come as a surprise. China shot 52% from the floor, more than doubled Korea's assists and recorded 33 big blocks to punctuate their continued dominance in Nha Trang.

- Zhou Qi led the way again with 19 points and 7 blocks while shooting 7-of-12 from the field in just 15 minutes of play. Heng Yifeng and Liu Bo followed him up with 11 and 10 markers each. China tops Group E and faces the Saudis next.

- A glance at the box scores might indicate that coach Kang Yang-Hyun chose to pull his punches in this contest. Park In-Tae, who's been a major offensive threat for Korea, did not play at all while star guards Kim Gook-Chan and Heo Ho-On played a combined 41 minutes only. It could be a case of coach Kang choosing to reserve his players for the knockout phase. They end up #2 in Group E and battle the Indons tomorrow.

Kim Nak-Hyeon led Korea with 13 points.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Guo Xiaopeng will be a key player in China's
championship dreams.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Heo Ho-On probably conserved his energy for
the bigger games ahead.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

SAUDI ARABIA over VIETNAM, 63-53

KSA 63 - Sakar 32, Al-Tamar 9, Musallam 9, Barnawi 9, Hansawi 2, Mobarki 2, Al-Malalah 0, Al-Thalabi 0

VIE 53 - Nguyen MT 18, Nguyen DT 12, Nguyen VH 9, Tran VN 4, Tran J 3, Tran NT 3, Phan 3, Nguyen XH 1, Do 0, Cao 0

QS: 13-20, 31-34, 44-44, 63-53

- For the second straight day, Vietnam lost a golden opportunity to nail a W. An 11-2 spurt to start the fourth frame doomed the home squad, and they were never abel to recover.

- Abdulaziz Sakar led Saudi with 32 big points, shooting 16-of-25 from the field on top of 3 steals. Big men Abdula Al-Tamar, Abdullah Musallam and Raad Barnawi each finished with 9 points and combined for 19 blocks and 8 steals. Saudi finished #4 in Group F and moves on against China tomorrow.

- Star wingman Jason Tran played just 16 minutes here and coach Thien Son Nguyen instead chose to go to Tu Nguyen Minh and Thong Nguyen Duy for his points. Both players combined for 30 points in all, but they collectively shot just 13 -of-34 from the field. Vietnam is eliminated from medal contention and now plays for, at best, 9th place.

Hung Nguyen Van rises for the short stab.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Abdulaziz Sakar scored a game-high 32 points.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Abdullah Musallam challenges the interior
defense of the hosts.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

INDONESIA over QATAR, 57-54

INA 57 - Abraham 13, Fahdani 11, Kosasih 11, Ramadhan 10, Istiadi 5, Indraprasto 4, Setiawan 2, Sidabutar 1, Yogia 0, Airawan 0, Purwoko 0

QAT 54 - Saad 27, Abdelkawy 21, Al-Ahbabi 2, Dawoud 2, Mohamed 1, Al-Malki 1, Al-Ahmad 0, Al-Abidi 0, Al-Marri 0

QS: 17-16, 34-25, 47-42, 57-54

- Indonesia banked on a strong second quarter to provide just enough cushion against the late Qatari rally and pull through with their 3rd win in 5 games. The Indons made up for their horrendous 0-for-9 three-point shooting by forcing 17 Qatari turnovers, stealing the ball 10 times and blocking 26 Qatari shots.

- Hans Abraham led Indonesia again with 13 points. Big men Muhammad Fahdani and Vincent Kosasih each finished with 11 while Taufik Ramadhan scored 10. Indonesia finishes a strong 3rd in Group F, though they'll have their work cut out for them against the Koreans in the Final 8.

- Abdulrahman Saad and Mohamed Abdelkawy combined for 48 points, but it wasn't enough to overhaul the Indonesian lead. Qatar finishes round 2 as 5th in Group F and is relegated to the 9th-12th place games.

Mohammed Dawoud goes for the lay-up.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Muhammad Fahdani goes up strong.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

Vincent Kosasih tries a baby-hook.
(image by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net)

PHILIPPINES over JAPAN, 83-72

PHL 83 - Alejandro 36, Diputado 14, Cani 10, Asilum 7, Heading 6, Rivero 4, Javelosa 2, Ramos 2, Lao 2, Go 0, Caracut 0

JPN 72 - Sugiura 30, Baba 26, Kaneko 5, Shinkawa 4, Shirato 3, Aoki 2, Yamamoto 2, Kakiuchi 0, Morikawa 0, Chikui 0, Miyamoto 0

QS: 21-22, 48-36, 70-57, 83-72

- The Philippines finally unveiled their ace scorer in Jay-J Alejandro to surprise the erstwhile unbeaten Japanese. Defense was key, too, as Japanese gunner Taisei Shirato was limited to 0-for-5 shooting in the early stages, despite Japan gaining the lead at the end of the first period. The Pinoys shot well again, converting 53% of their field goals as opposed to just 28% for the Japanese. The biggest reason Japan wasn't blown out by a bigger margin was because the Philippines gave away 29 free throw attempts, 23 of which were converted by Japan.

- Alejandro led the Pinoy effort with 36 big points on 16-of-28 shooting, including 2 triples, to go along with 7 blocks and 3 assists. Hubert Cani and Rev Diputado both finished in double-figures, too, with 10 and 14 points respectively. This time around, the Philippines made just 2 of its 10 three-point attempts, but they did more than double up on Japan's assists total with 15. The Pinoys move on to the quarterfinals against the dangerous WABA champions, Iraq.

- Japan finally lost a game in Vietnam, and it might be the start of more difficult things to come for them. They finish #2 in the group, but a tough Lebanese team awaits them in the Final 8. Yusei Sugiura and Yudai Baba combined for 56 points in Japan's losing effort here.