Malaysia beat Indonesia (Photo FIBA)
Hosts Malaysia left nothing to chance or doubt early on and cruised along thenceforth, racing to a 77-63 win over SEABA nemesis Indonesia to close the proceedings in Group C action of the FIBA Asia Cup 2029 Pre-Qualifiers First Round at the Karisma Arena on Monday.
Hong Kong, China had tipped off the day’s proceedings by beating Singapore 100-59, finishing their engagements with a clean slate.
Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Indonesia have thus qualified from this Group to the Second Round Group F, where they are joined by Thailand, Mongolia and Fiji, the trio from Group D.
Playing in front of the largest crowd of the competition, Malaysia were focused as well as ferocious in their approach right from the word go.
Talismanic forward Ting Chun Hong, whose fiery long-ranger helped Malaysia close the opening period in complete control, would go on to lead the home team’s scoring with 21 points.
Fellow veteran Ong Wei Yong, who too played an active role, added 13 points while Tychique Bosango’s double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds held fort.
Anthony Beane enhanced his career graph with a game-high 23 points.
Marco Leung’s 16 points was the highest for Hong Kong, China in a line-up that saw five players score in double digits and two miss it by one point.
Carl Belanger’s dozen led Singapore.
Bahrain down Kuwait to remain unbeaten
Bahrain launched a massive offensive midway through the second quarter and cruised along thenceforth to post a 95-67 win over Kuwait, thus completing their Group A engagements with a 4-0 record.
In the day’s other game, Oman posted their only win of the competition, beating Nepal 76-62.
“Our aim was to win two games and ensure we qualify. We achieved that,” said Kuwait coach Vasileios Bratsiakos.
His team, despite the defeat, finished in the top three along with Bahrain and hosts UAE, to qualify for the Second Round, where they are grouped with Palestine, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka in Group E.
Ahmed Haji, whose three-pointer record in a single game was rendered to oblivion the other night by UAE’s Omar Alameri, reeled in five long-rangers tonight and went on to lead all scorers with 21 points, eight of them coming in the second quarter.
Mustafa Rashed and Jakarr Sampson each had a 20-point game, the latter also pulling down 16 rebounds in Bahrain’s charge.
Sayed Akbar led Kuwait with 18 points.
Rasheed Al Zahaibi was the leader of Oman’s win with 18 points, on 7/13 field shooting, missing a double-double by two rebounds.
Nischal Maharjan was once again the most conspicuous player and prolific scorer with 16 points, but once again in a losing cause.
Kazakhstan close with consummate win
Hosts Kazakhstan completed the proceedings in Group B of the FIBA Asia Cup 2029 Pre-Qualifiers at the Baluan Sholaq Sports Palace on Monday, cantering their way to an 87-58 win over Sri Lanka.
Earlier, Kyrgyzstan gained some brownie points by beating Maldives 95-37, thus avoiding returning home empty-handed.
Kazakhstan, along with Sri Lanka and the unbeaten Palestine, have made it to the Second Round, where in Group E they will line up against Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait, who have booked their tickets from Group A of the First Round.
Shaim Kuanov, who had accumulated 16 points over the previous three games, led Kazakhstan with 15 points, with the coach expectedly giving the bench more time than routine.
Ruslan Aitkali added a dozen points and pulled down seven rebounds in the win.
Kande Mendis led Sri Lanka with 19 points.
Teenage guard Esenbai Kubatbekov utilised the opportunity and returned a joint game-high 18 points for Kyrgyzstan in an 11-man rotation that saw all of them score.
Veteran Mohamed Khuwailid Ali too had 18 points, but in a losing cause for Maldives.
