Sports · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
South Korea Faces Iran in Asian Games Basketball Semifinal in Nagoya After Wins Over Jordan
South Korea faces Iran in Nagoya semifinals of the Asian Games basketball tournament. Korea aims for its first men's hoop gold since 2014 after beating Jordan.
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“At the Asian Games, where the competition is much tougher compared to CWG, India has managed only a total of 14 medals”Read the original ↗
Livemint omits the Korea, Iran basketball semifinal and instead covers badminton and weightlifting for India.
Iran-Korea semifinal set
South Korea will face long-time rival Iran in the Asian Games basketball semifinals in Nagoya, with the matchup set for 4 p.m. Friday at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya.
“The two countries will renew their rivalry at 4 p.m. Friday at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya.”
The Korea Times reported that the last time Korea won the Asian Games gold medal in men's basketball was when it defeated Iran in the final on its home soil of Incheon in 2014.T
Korea heads into the semifinal after routing Jordan 114-80 in the quarterfinals Wednesday, and the Korea Times said Korea has won all four games it has played so far under coach Nikolajs Mazurs.T
Iran, meanwhile, advanced after defeating Bahrain 79-74 in the round of 16, and the Korea Times said Mohammad Jamshidi is Iran's leading scorer, averaging 22.7 points per game on 60 percent shooting.T
The stakes are framed as a bid to end a drought, with the Korea Times saying Korea is chasing 1st men's hoops gold in 12 years while Iran stands in the way. T
Schedule shift and rivalry
StarNews said Korea's quarterfinal game schedule was suddenly moved up by 3 hours and 20 minutes after Japan qualified as host country to the semifinals, while the Japan vs. China matchup was placed in the 'golden hour'.
In the same StarNews account, the Korea national basketball team, Nam Ja-nong-gu (CEO), coached by Nicholas Mazulis (Latvia), will play its quarterfinal against Iran on the 18th at 4:00 p.m. at the Nagoya Aichi International Arena in Japan.
The Korea Times described a rivalry shaped by results since 2014, saying Korea has lost to Iran in six consecutive matches since the 2014 victory.T
The Korea Times also said Korea is averaging 99.5 points per game in four games so far while Iran has topped 80 points just once in four games so far and is averaging 71.3 points per game.T
With the semifinal now the next step, the Korea Times said the host country Japan and China will square off in the other semifinal match later Friday. T
Who needs to break through
The Korea Times said Iran's traditional strengths include tight defense, having held its opponents to 67.5 points per game, and it added that Iran has also allowed just 5.5 offensive rebounds to its opponents on average.T
“Iran has also allowed just 5.5 offensive rebounds to its opponents on average.”
For Korea, the Korea Times pointed to tournament scoring and shooting, saying Korea has reached the century mark in points in three straight games and is shooting 50 percent from the field.
The Korea Times also highlighted individual production, noting that Arsalan Kazemi dished out 10 assists and grabbed 11 boards in the semifinals against Bahrain, while Lee Hyun-jung is the tournament's second-leading scorer with an average of 22.8 points per game.T
The Korea Times said Lee Hyun-jung drained six treys in just 20 minutes of action against Jordan, and it added that Korea welcomed back two key forwards in the quarterfinals.T
As the semifinal approaches, the [https | West Asian] report said the upcoming match in Nagoya marks a critical test for a South Korean squad seeking to break a six-match losing streak to Iran and reach the final.