The Iran men’s national basketball team has stormed past Kazakhstan at the 2019 Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball (FIBA) Basketball World Cup qualification (Asia) tournament, and progressed to the second round of the continental event.
On Monday evening, the host outfit defeated the visitors 88-56 (31-6, 14-25, 20-9 and 23-16) in a match played at the indoor Azadi Basketball Arena in western Tehran.
Iranian professional basketball player Behnam Yakhchali Dehkordi, who currently plays for Petrochimi Bandar Imam in Iran’s Super League, scored 20 points. He also had seven rebounds and two assists.
The Iran men’s national basketball team will play the Philippines in a second round showdown on September 13.
Iran is pitted against Australia, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Philippines and Qatar in Group F of the second round.
China, Jordan, Lebanon, New Zealand, South Korea and Syria are drawn in Group E.
In the second round, the top three teams from each group will be placed in a group with three teams from another group. All results from the first qualification round are carried over to the second round. Games will be played in September 2018, November 2018 and February 2019. The top three teams in each group along with the better placed fourth team will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
If China makes it to the top 4 teams in either group, then both fourth-placed teams will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which will be the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, will he held between August 31 and September 15 in China.