2013 FIBA Asia U16 Championships Roundup: Day Six

The second group stage of the 2013 FIBA Asia U16 Championships in Tehran, Iran closed with another huge upset sprung by Bahrain. This time, it was home team Iran that lost to the upstart Gulf team even as the Philippines solidified top spot in Group F after it beat India and Japan beat erstwhile undefeated Taiwan.

Jollo Go of Hope Christian HS hit 6 triples as the Philippines
routed India to close the second round.

In the first game of the day, China nailed its sixth win in as many games at the expense of the up-and-down Koreans, 83-71. It proved to be a tight affair for most of the game, until the Chinese broke it open in the middle of the fourth quarter to put the outcome beyond doubt. Zhao Yanhao had a breakout game here, hitting 4 treys on his way to 29 points, while twin towers Hu Jinqiu and Fu Hao continue to assert themselves in the shaded area with a combined 37 points and 24 boards. Hu also recorded 7 blocked shots. On the other end of the floor, Kwon Hyeok-Joon continued his impressive run in the tourney by scoring 24 markers on 11/22 FG shooting. Kwon has proven to be one of the tournament’s most dangerous penetrators, and he will be a headache for the Japanese in the knockout phase. China, meanwhile, faces Group F’s fourth seed, Kazakhstan.

The second game of the day featured the Syrians salvaging some pride in the second round by blowing out the Malaysians, 82-57. The trio of Mohamad Hadri, Khalel Khori, and Anas Al Kerawan dominated in this match, finishing with a combined 52 points. Hadri and Khori also did well in controlling the boards with a combined 23 rebounds, while team captain Ronaldo Shammas added 12 boards and 4 steals. Malaysia had only one guy in double-figures – Heng Yee Tong, who dropped a dozen markers while shooting just 5/16 from the floor. Both Syria and Malaysia have been eliminated from quarterfinal contention and are relegated to the 9^th-12^th placing wars.

The third game saw how Jordan, which was supposed to fight for its chance to enter the quarterfinals, played in a stupor and got blown out by Kazakhstan, 99-62. Despite controlling the boards, the Jordanians weren’t able to put up much of a challenge as they shot just 24% from the field and yielded 20 turnovers. Kazakhstan capitalized, of course, and scored 18 points off those Jordanian errors. Andrey Litvinenko, Ruslan Aitkali, and Leonid Voronushkin each finished with 18 points or more in the victorious effort. Zhalgasbek Kadyr also did well for the Central Asians with 10 assists. Rashed Al Jadidi and Yazeed Hijazi paced the losing side with 18 and 13 markers respectively. Kazakhstan finishes fourth in the group and faces the unbeaten Chinese in the QFs, while Jordan falls by the wayside and is relegated to the consolation round.

In the day’s fourth game, Japan recovered from the shellacking it received from the Philippines in its previous game by routing the erstwhile unbeaten Taiwanese, 96-76. Japan had to win this game to secure a spot in the quarterfinals and they did so with aplomb, not only qualifying for the crossover knockout phase but also finishing second in group and pulling the Taiwanese down to third seed. Rui Hachimura rediscovered his deadly form here, netting 26 points and hauling down 13 rebounds, while Hayato Maki contributed 25 points, 9 boards, and 3 assists. Gen Hiraiwa also did well with a 12-point, 14-rebound, and 3-block performance even as Yutaro Hayashi dropped 18 markers and 3 steals. It was a tight contest for three quarters before the Japs unloaded a 32-point fourth period to leave their EABA neighbors in the dust. Taiwanese ace Tu Su-Han played sparingly here, scoring just 9 points in 21 minutes (shooting 4/14 from the floor). Sun Yung-Cheng led coach Hsieh Yu-Chuan’s squad with 16 markers, while Wu Yen-Ju registered 13 points and 10 boards. Japan faces Korea in the next round, while Taiwan goes up against giant-killer Bahrain.

Speaking of Bahrain, in game number five, the most upset-conscious team of the lot provided another shocker as the Gulf nation blasted hometown side Iran, 70-50. Once again the power pairing of Sadiq Hasan and Mohamed Juma struck here, combining for 47 points and 17 rebounds. Hasan was particularly splendid, also blocking 3 shots and stealing the basketball NINE times. With their performance so far, it sure looks like the future looks really bright for the Bahrainis. The same could not be said of the Iranians, however, as they dropped their third game in six outings and fell to fourth spot in Group E. Star playmaker Seyed Seyedi was rested in this encounter, no doubt because coach Ali Towfigh needs him to be 100% in Iran’s monumental quarterfinal clash with Group F top team, the Philippines. Soheil Farhadi and Barzin Baban carried the scoring cudgels for Team Melli with 11 points each.

For the final match, the Filipinos relied on the hot-shooting of Jollo Go in the second half to break a close game open and eventually beat India, 78-67, to cement the top seed in its group. It was close game till late in the third period, when Go hit a couple of threes to open up a 15-point margin in favor of the SEABA champs entering the final frame. Coach Jamike Jarin’s wards then extended the gap to as many as 23 points at 70-47 before the Indians mounted a futile rally to end the game and peg a more respectable final tally. Go hit 6 treys when the dust settled, ending up with 26 points and 4 steals. Little big man Mike Nieto also shone here, dropping 16 markers, collaring 8 caroms, and getting 2 steals in under 25 minutes of play. On the other end, three guys finished in double-figure scoring for coach Raghavendra Singh Gour – Mahipal Singh, Jaipal Singh Maan, and Akhilesh Kumar Tudu scored 14, 14, and 10 points respectively.

BOX SCORES:

CHINA over KOREA, 83-71

CHN 83 – Zhao 29, Fu 21, Hu 16, Xu 11, Luo 4, Zhang 2, Wang C 0, Wang Z 0, Liu 0, Wu 0

KOR 71 – Kwon 24, Choi 17, Yang JH 10, Han 10, Mun 6, Yun DB 2, Yang JM 2, Yun WS 0, Park MU 0, Park SK 0, Park JC 0

QS: 21-19, 43-35, 57-52, 83-71

Yang Jae-Hyuk snipes from deep.

Zhao Yanhao pulls up against the Koreans.

SYRIA over MALAYSIA, 82-57

SYR 82 – Hadri 21, Al Kerawan 16, Khori 15, Tarzikhan 8, Egho 8, Shammas 8, Akhdir 6, hadad 0, Balkes 0, Diab 0, Kurd 0, Al Majzob 0

MAS 57 – Heng 12, Yek 8, Chang 8, Foo 7, Chong 5, Lau 5, Wong 4, Liew 4, Lim 2, Soong 2, Tan 0

QS: 20-21, 46-39, 71-49, 82-57

Chang Zi Fueng collars the rebound.

Anas Al Kerawan goes for the runner against Malaysia.

KAZAKHSTAN over JORDAN, 99-62

KAZ 99 – Litvinenko 22, Voronushkin 19, Aitkali 18, Neff 8, Danilchenko 8, Satkeyev 8, Kadyr 7, Kurochkin 4, Kirilin 3, Levakovskiy 2, Korzhov 0, Tinyayev 0

JOR 62 – Al Jadidi R 18, Hijazi 13, Daher M 6, Daher A 6, Al Abed 5, Al Jadidi M 5, Al Battikhi 4, Abu Aboud 3, Al Masri 2, Al Bdour 0, Jumean 0, Al Taher 0

QS: 18-12, 43-23, 65-39, 99-62