CHENNAI: Qatar beat India 69-53 in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers (Window 2) event held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai on Friday. The jam packed stadium comprising school children and the general public were in for a rare treat of high quality basketball and rooted for India.
But they were a disappointed lot as the Muin Bek Hafeez-led side was found wanting. Qatar, with their superior passing, coordination and shooting, won the match in style.
In the first two quarters, India and Qatar were a bit close, but in the third and fourth, the visitors took a good lead and went on to maintain it till the end. Indian captain Hafeez top-scored for India with 17 points, while for Qatar Mike Lewis and Tyler James Lee Harris were the star performers with 17 points each.
“Our biggest strength is three-point shooting and we struggled tonight,” said India coach Scott Flemming after the match. There’s hardly time left for the next game against Kazakhstan to work upon but Flemming is keen to make amends.