FIBA Asia U-18: India loses to Lebanon in quarters

India's campaign in the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship ended on Friday after losing to Lebanon 67-98 in the quarterfinals.

Sahil contests a shot against a Lebanon player during the quarterfinal match in Tehran on Friday.

India's campaign in the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship ended on Friday after losing to Lebanon 67-98 in the quarterfinals. It was India's first ever quarterfinal appearance in 12 years.

Playing against Group B topper Lebanon, India ended the first quarter trailing by just two points (21-23). The second quarter though was a different story, as Lebanon outscored India 26-9.

Lebanon went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter before a three pointer by captain Baladaneshwar eventually stemmed the bleeding. That led to a resurgence by India, which scored 20 points in the period as against 21 by Lebanon.

However, the consistent Lebanon again separated itself in the fourth quarter to beat India 98-67 and go through the semifinals.

India will now play the first of its classification matches (to decide the 5-8 placed teams) against Chinese Taipei, tomorrow. A win against Taipei will guarantee India its best ever placing since 1972, when the side ended fourth .

Results:

Lebanon (M. Alkhoury 18 pts 10 reb, N. Ozeir 17 pts 10 reb, S. Ghandour 15 pts 8 reb) bt India (Gineeb Benny 19 pts 7 reb, P. Baladaneshwar 17 pts 6 ast, Vishal Gupta 9 pts 9 reb) 98-67 [23-21, 26-9, 21-20, 28-17]