China wins breathtaking Asian qualifier against Iran

TEHRAN -- China powered past hosts Iran 81-72 on Friday evening in a breathtaking Asian qualifier en route to the FIBA 2023 Basketball World Cup.

Chinese skyscrapers' better performance and three-pointers played a key role in the win.

The two teams squared off in the fifth window of the Asian qualifiers, as Iran, drawn in Group F along with Australia, China, Japan, Kazakhstan and Bahrain, highly needed a win to keep its qualification hopes alive.

At a not fully-packed Azadi stadium, Du Feng's men, having the support of hundreds of Chinese fans, started the first quarter on the back foot, trailing 20-21 due to the Iranians' better performance in defensive and offensive rebounds.

In the second quarter, China managed to turn the game around thanks to a better start and successful three-point attempts, making an eight-point difference at 42-34 in its favor.

After the third quarter, China led at 60-51.

The fourth quarter was a thriller as both teams' resorting to full-court press increased the number of missed shots and errors. Iran narrowed the gap to 71-73 before Du stepped up and called a timeout.

Then, two three-pointers by Wu Qian and Zhou Peng shattered the Iranians' hopes of an overturn. China's top performer Wang Zhelin completed his awesome day with a dunk that dealt the last blow to Iran.

Wang scored 23 points for China and had seven rebounds, two assists and three steals. Iran's top performer Behnam Yakhchali notched up 24 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block.

Iran is now with 14 points from nine matches (five wins and four losses), while China, having garnered 16 points from nine matches (seven wins and two losses), will take on Bahrain on Monday.