BASKETBALL – Bahrain suffered a heart-breaking 103-105 loss – at the buzzer – against Chinese Taipei yesterday in their concluding classification game of the Fiba U16 Asia Cup 2025, which came to a close in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Wang I-Le buried the game-winning three-pointer as time expired to lift Chinese Taipei to the stunning victory.
The kingdom’s youth men’s basketball national team held a narrow 103-102 advantage with only 2.1 seconds remaining, but their rivals drew up a fine in-bounds play during a timeout.
Chou Yu-Chen delivered the perfect pass across the court to I-Le, whose left-footed attempt from the right wing swished through the net.
With the result, the Bahrainis finished the 16-nation tournament in eighth-place overall – matching their best-ever final ranking in the history of the competition. They were also eighth in the 2013 edition held in Tehran, Iran.
Australia were crowned champions for the fourth straight time after defeating China 85-58 in yesterday’s gold medal contest.
New Zealand joined the two finalists on the podium after taking the bronze medals with a narrow 93-92 win over Japan.
South Korea were ranked fifth overall after beating Iran 78-73 in yesterday’s other classification affair.
In Bahrain’s loss, the nationals welcomed back star big man Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, who missed their previous three fixtures due to injury.
He came up with a series of key baskets down the stretch yesterday, including two free-throws that gave the Bahrainis a 101-100 edge with 35.8 seconds to play, and then a basket on a tip-in that put them ahead 103-100 with only 32.0s left.
But Yu-Chen had a jump shot from the free-throw line to cut the deficit to just one, and that set the stage for I-Le’s heroics, which they scored after a costly turnover on a Bahrain fast-break with just the final 2.1s remaining.
Earlier in the contest, Bahrain led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter but then trailed by 14 early in the third. They led for most of the final frame, but were unlucky in the end.
Onoduenyi and frontcourt mate Hassan Abdulkadir combined for 50 of the national team’s output with 25 points apiece.
Abdulkadir also grabbed 18 rebounds while Onoduenyi had 11 boards.
Yousif Yaqoob Meshaei added 19 points while Mohamed Adel Abdulla had 12 and Hussain Fuad Ghuloom 10.
I-Le top scored for Chinese Taipei with 18, which included four triples – none bigger than the clincher. Hsiao Cheng-Che added 17, while Yu-Chen scored 15.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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