Expressnews
Qatar team has registered a fantastic victory with the score of 69-53 against India
Basketball Federation of India President Aadhav Arjuna inaugurated the qualifiers for the FIBA Asia Cup Basketball (2025) series at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai.For the first time in India, an international Men’s basketball tournament was held in Chennai. The first match was held in this round of two matches.
In this, the Indian team, ranked 76th in the world, played against the Qatar team ranked 101.Before the start of the tournament, a silent tribute was paid to Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock, FIBA Asia Secretary General Emeritus and secretary of the Asian Basketball Association who passed away recently.
Both the teams played evenly from the beginning of the match. Muin Bek Hafeez , the captain of the Indian team and a member of Tamil Nadu, strengthened the team by taking 3 counts in succession. With every point Hafeez scores, the stadium vibrates with cheers from the fans.
However, the Qatar players scored more than 2 points to take a 17-14 lead in the first quarter.
Captain Hafeez made three 3-pointers in the second half to increase the team’s tally.
The Qatar team led 36-31 at the end of the first half due to Lewis amazing performance in the Qatar team.The dominance of the Qatar team continued in the second half.
Captain Hafeez was brilliantly prevented by the opposing players from scoring a single point. At the same time, he did not fail to accumulate points.Another Tamil Nadu player in the Indian team, Prince, scored a 2 count and a 3 count, but we could not reach the points scored by Qatar.
Lewis and Harris scored consecutive points for Qatar. Levis scored 19 points and Harris scored 17 points to lead the team to victory.
Captain Hafeez scored maximum 17 points and Prince scored 13 points in the Indian team. We could not score more points as the Indian team players were limited in rebounding.
In the end, the Qatar team registered a stunning victory with a score of 69-53. The Indian team struggled and lost.
The Indian team will face Kazakhstan in another qualifying match on 25th. The match will be held on the 25th at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. It is worth noting that the Indian team can qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup only if they win this match.
