Indian men cagers lose to Iran; crash out of Asian Games

India crashed out of men's basketball competition in the Asian Games after losing to Iran in a preliminary round match here today.

The Indian team lost 41-76, their second consecutive defeat in preliminary round Group E, to make an exit from the tournament. They had lost 76-85 against Philippines yesterday. Only two teams from Group E will qualify for quarterfinals.

The Indians, who had topped their qualifying round group, gave a tough fight to the Iranians in the beginning but they lost way as the four-quarter game wore on.

The opening quarter saw India scoring 16 against 22 of Iran and then 12 against 16 in the second. Iran were ahead by 10 points at 38-28 at the midway stage.

But from there, it was Iran all the way till the end as they outplayed the Indians with their superior skills. India could just score eight and five points in the final two quarters as against 20 and 18 by their opponents.

Captain Amritpal Singh was the top-scorer for India with 10 points while Vishesh Bhriguvanshi fetched nine points and Narender Kumar eight.

For Iran, captain Mohammad Samad Khahbahrami and Hamed Ehadadi got 16 points each while Mohammad Jamshid Jafarabadi scored 14.