FIBA U18 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP: MONGOLIA DID NOT ADVANCE

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia /MONTSAME/ Mongolia scored their first ever win in FIBA Asia U18 competitions beating Indonesia 73-67 in front of a partisan crowd on Sunday, but that proved insufficient to take the hosts of the 22nd FIBA Asia U18 Championship to the Second Round. The result left Mongolia and Indonesia tied with Bahrain with identical 1-2 win-loss records in their three games and in the ensuing three-way tie-breaker, Bahrain and Indonesia finished ahead of Mongolia. Mongolia, who had lost both their games, took to the court determined to notch their first win. Monkhnasan Lkhamjav poured in a massive tournament-high 33 points to lead the hosts' charge, which at one point in time looked like will take Mongolia through to the Second Round. But a 12-5 run in the final minutes helped Indonesia cut down the margin of defeat and thus keep the deficit within their qualifying range. Jan Misael Panagan was the highest scorer for Indonesia with 16 points, half of them coming in the fourth quarter. China, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Iran who had finished in that order of rankings at the 21st FIBA Asia Championship at Sana'A (Yemen) in 2010 topped their respective Prelim Round groups without much ado. China carried too many guns to beat Lebanon 96-74 to take the top place in Group A, while Korea too were dominating in beating Singapore 110-32 in Group B. Chinese Taipei overcame a forgettable first half to douse Bahrain's enthusiasm in their 94-61 Group C win and Iran used their size advantage well to pull away in the second half to beat Philippines 93-72 for the top place in Group D. Syria pipped Japan at the post literally in their 73-71 win to take the No 2 spot in Group B and thus carry forward two crucial points into the Second Round. India and Saudi Arabia were faced with a virtual play-off situation for a place in the Second Round, and both achieved their targets after hard-fought wins. India blazed their way through in the third quarter and held fort after that to beat Hong Kong 77-68 to clinch the third berth from Group A, while Saudi Arabia needed a strong fourth quarter finish to beat Kazakhstan 76-65 for a similar achievement from Group B. B.Khuder