Bahrain fall to China in World Cup qualifier

TDT | Manama                                                                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain fell to their second successive defeat last night in the second round of Asian qualifying for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. The nationals bowed to continental powerhouses China 67-80 in their Group F contest played in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

The Bahrainis trailed by as many as 18 points but then made a furious 10-1 rally to start the final quarter. That brought them to within just seven, 56-63, but they came no closer the rest of the way. The result followed Bahrain’s 50-104 loss to Australia at home last week, putting them at the bottom of their division with four games still to play.

Bahrain dropped to a 2-6 win-loss record. In yesterday’s other Group F fixture, Australia defeated Iran 98-68 at home. The Aussies improved to an 8-0 mark while Iran went to 5-3. In Bahrain’s loss last night, they fell behind 11-25 at the end of the opening period.

They raised their play in the second and cut the deficit to single digits, 33-42, at the half. But after the break, the Chinese managed to widen the gap once more as they took a 62-46 advantage into the final canto. The nationals tried valiantly to stay in the game, getting to within seven points twice in the fourth.

But the Chinese made the key baskets down the stretch to escape with the 13-point win. Young point guard Mustafa Hussain top scored for Bahrain with 24 points, including four makes from beyond the three-point line.

Ahmed Aldurazi added 10 points as the only other player in double figures, while Mohammed Ameer had nine points to go with seven rebounds. Ali Hussain chipped in with eight, while Wayne Chism scored seven points and took down 11 rebounds.

Qi Zhou paced China with 22 markers, while Junlong Zhu had 14 and Mingxuan Hu 12. Following last night’s game against China, the Bahrainis next host Japan on November 11 before hosting the Chinese in the Kingdom on November 14.

The nationals then travel to Australia for an away game on February 23 next year, before playing in Japan on February 26. The 12 remaining teams in Asian qualifying have been divided into two groups for this round.

Group E features New Zealand, Lebanon, Jordan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and India. The top three teams from each group, along with hosts Japan and the Philippines, qualify for next year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup.