The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship will conclude its first round of round-robin play on Saturday morning as teams continue to try to qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Cup and eventually, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Seven of the tournament’s 15 teams have already clinched a spot in the second round, leaving five spots still up for grabs.
FIBA Asia 2013 schedule: Yi Jianlian and Hamed Haddadi square off Saturday morning
Iran and China will both be moving on to the second round of the FIBA Asia Championship. Even though the result of their Saturday morning game won’t really matter in the long run, it should be a nice battle between Hamed Haddadi and Yi Jianlian.
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The most important game on Saturday morning will be the matchup between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Jordan as they attempt to clinch Group A’s third and final spot in the second round. Both teams have suffered losses to Chinese Taipei and the Philippines, but a win Saturday morning will allow one of them to move on to the second round and a step closer to the championship.
The best game, however, will take place when the Iranian national team takes on China in Group C action. China suffered a surprising loss against Korea on the first day of the tournament, but rebounded with a 91-point victory over Malaysia on Friday morning while sitting reigning MVP Yi Jianlian. Iran handed Malaysia a 90-point drubbing of its own on the first day of action, but followed it up with a victory over Korea that saw Hamed Haddadi score 30 points and grab 13 rebounds.
The final day of the first round’s schedule is included below, converted to Eastern Time for your convenience.
10 p.m. (Friday) -- Malaysia (0-2) vs. Korea (1-1), Group C
12:15 a.m. (Saturday) -- India (1-1) vs. Kazakhstan* (2-0), Group D
2:30 a.m. -- Hong Kong* (0-1) vs. Qatar* (1-0), Group B
4:45 a.m. -- Iran* (2-0) vs. China (1-1), Group C
5 a.m. -- Bahrain (1-1) vs. Thailand (0-2), Group D
7:30 a.m. -- Philippines* (2-0) vs. Chinese Taipei* (2-0), Group A
9:30 a.m. -- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (0-2) vs. Jordan (0-2), Group A
* = clinched second round
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