Iran secured a place at this year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup despite an 86-74 defeat against China in the final round of fixtures at the Asian qualifiers.
Kazakhstan’s 98-53 loss to Australia in the other Group F game meant Saeed Armaghani’s men finished fourth in the group to book the last ticket up for grabs in the continent for the men’s flagship international competition – starting August 25 in Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Playing without injured star center Hamed Haddadi, Iran started on the front foot and took a 21-20 lead in the first quarter before heading into the halftime break with a three-point advantage (48-45).
However, Qian Wu and Jinqiu Hu inspired a fightback for the Chinese off the bench with 18 and 13 points respectively, while Jiwei Zhao (12) and Qi Zhou (11) also scored in double figures.
Behnam Yakhchali chipped in a game-high 28 points – including three successful attempts from behind the arc – for Iran and Arsalan Kazemi had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Matin Aqajanpour contributed with 13 points for Armaghani’s team, with Sina Vahedi dropping 11 points during 15:48 minutes on the court.
This will be Iran’s fourth consecutive appearance at the World Cup in as many total appearances in the event. In the last World Cup in China, Iran was the highest-placed team from Asia at 23rd place.
Iran’s best World Cup performance came at the 2010 event in Turkey where the three-time Asian champion finished 19th.
All qualification spots available from the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers are now decided with Iran joining the cohosts the Philippines and Japan plus Lebanon, New Zealand, Australia, China, and Jordan at the World Cup later this year in Manila, Okinawa, and Jakarta.