IR Iran basket semifinal place

IR Iran reached their first Asian Games men's basketball semifinal in 55 years with a dramatic 68-64 win over Japan at Basketball Indoor Hall on Tuesday. The game was tied at 64-64 with 38 seconds left, when IR Iran's Mohammad Samad Nik Khah Bahrami, the leading scorer in the tournament, broke the deadlock.

He received the ball on the baseline, drove to the basket to score and also drew a foul on a Japanese defender. Nik Khah Bahrami scored with the free throw shot for a three-point lead, 67-64, with seconds left. In the last five seconds Japan's Shinsuke Kashiwagi had a wide open three-point shot from the corner to level the game. but it rimmed out to be rebounded by IR Iran's centre Hamed Ehadadi.

A foul and an additional point from the free throw line from Ehadadi gave the Iranians a four point margin, with the final buzzer sparking wild celebration from the players. IR Iran now face either Qatar or Chinese Taipei in the semifinals, depending on their result in their quarterfinal at 19:15 on Tuesday. The dramatic finish was characteristic of the game, which featured nine lead changes as well as seven points at which the scores were tied.

IR Iran last played in a basketball semifinal at the inaugural 1951 Asian Games in New Delhi, India, where they won the bronze medal. They did not compete at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, Korea, and finished seventh at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.

Disappointed Japan coach Kimikazu Suzuki pointed out the main reason he felt his team had lost, he said, "Rebounds, I think Japan and Iran both missed a lot of shots, but Iran had about 20 points from rebounds. That was the problem.

"Kazakhstan and the Middle East countries have players who are big and tall. Our players did well even if they didn't have enough time to train. I am thinking of making a new national team. I think we have to select big and tall players, including naturalised ones in Japan. Otherwise, it's difficult to win against other countries."

IR Iran's coach Fredrick Femi Onica said, "I think it's a part of the game, we gave up some shots and we also had some problems with [Japan's] number nine [Takehiko Orimo]. Our big men didn't attack the basket all that well. Sometimes we tend to have breakdowns in rotation and that tends to effect our game, but defence is definitely the key to winning games."

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006