India lose to Saudi Arabia in FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament  

Damascus [Syria], August 16 : The Indian men’s basketball team faced their second defeat 75-92 in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia 2023 against Saudi Arabia here on Wednesday.

India started their campaign with wins over hosts Syria and Indonesia but lost to Kazakhstan by three points in their previous encounter.

If Bahrain, who are on a three-match winning streak, beat Indonesia later in the day, they will qualify for the final Olympic basketball qualifying tournament scheduled in 2024. Only the top team from the six-team FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Asia 2023 will advance to the next round.

Saudi Arabia’s Khalid M Abdel Gabar and Musab Tariq M Kadi scored 15 points each and were the top scorers in the match. Amaan Sandhu scored 14 points and was the top scorer for India. Sandhu also made nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, as per Olympics.com. 

World No. 68 Saudi Arabia, who came into the contest on the back of two losses and a win, evenly matched the in-form Indian basketball team, ranked 82nd, in the first two minutes.

However, after the scores were tied at 6-6, Saudi Arabia’s clinical shooting fetched them 13 points in a row while India, stunned by the onslaught, could not score a point in the next five minutes.

The second quarter got worse for India, who trailed 14-27 at the end of the first. India could not match Saudi Arabia’s intensity and the deficit grew to 22 points.

Saudi Arabia’s lead swelled to 31 points midway into the third quarter. India’s Pranav Prince got into the act as India cut the lead to 17 with 14 straight points. However, with scores at 70-50 at the end of the third quarter, India were left with a steep hill to climb.

India outscored Saudi Arabia in the fourth quarter as well by scoring 25 points compared to 22. However, India could not recover from the early setbacks.

Six basketball teams – India, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Syria – are competing in the Asian leg of the Olympic pre-qualifiers basketball tournament for the Paris 2024 Games.

India’s next match is against world No. 84 Bahrain on Thursday. Bahrain are the second lowest-ranked side in the tournament but have put on impressive performances with wins over Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and Syria.  

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