MANILA, Philippines - Iran caught China in its worst form in years and ran away with a 70-51 victory last night in the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.
China, the troubled defending champion, sourly missed the services of its main man, seven-footer Yi Jianlian, who rode the bench due to injury.
Without him, the Chinese never stood a chance.
Iran, led by giant Hamed Hadadi, jumped to a 9-0 start, led by 17 points at the half and enjoyed their biggest lead at 24 points with less than a minute left in the game.
A drum-beating Iranian contingent at the bleachers section cheered from start to finish, and were amply rewarded with their team’s third win in as many games.
“That was a very good game for us. But this game is over. Now we are thinking of the future,†said Iranian coach Mehmed Becirovic.
Iran, FIBA-Asia champion in 2007 and 2009, topped Group C with a 3-0 record followed by South Korea (2-1), China (1-2) and Malaysia (0-3). Kazakhstan topped Group D at 3-0 while Bahrain (2-1) and India (1-2) also moved on, leaving Thailand (0-3) behind.
The top three teams from the four groups will move on to the next round which starts tomorrow following a rest day today.
China got off on the wrong foot when it lost to Korea last Thursday and after a victory over winless Malaysia it bowed to Iran.
“We played a good game but we also made mistakes. But I’m happy that we won. My team showed a lot of energy so we won.
“This game is done. We need to think of the other games. We are facing a new group. We need to improve from our mistakes,†added Becirovic.