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TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - Qatar played the waiting game before making their move late in the first half and carried the momentum to notch a 77-62 win over last edition’s semifinalists Kazakhstan in a Group C game on Thursday.

Exchanges were equal and scoring was even in the opening moments and the two teams looked headed for a close battle similar to the one they had waged in their previous encounter at the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup in Kuwait last year. Kazakhstan had won that game 77-76.

Qatar attempted to open up the game midway through the first quarter with a 6-0 run, which helped them close the first quarter 15-12 ahead.

But Kazakhstan returned the offensive in kind with an 8-0 run of their own – starting the end moments of the first quarter – and were back in lead at 16-15 when Alexander Tyutyunik capitalized on a Rustam Yargaliyew steal.

And the game was back to even keel, till Yaseen Ismail converted a rebound to follow up his three-pointer after Daoud Mousa had sank a long-ranger to give Qatar a 38-30 lead going into the changing rooms.

Saad Ali’s success in the paint gave Qatar a 41-30 lead early in the second half, and there was no further trouble for the GCC champions.

Ali led the scoring for the game with 20 points. Ismail contributed 13 and pulled down eight rebounds. Ali Saeed chipped in with 15 points and four assists.

Tyutyunik was the highest scorer for Kazakhstan with 19 points as Anton Ponomarev was restricted to only seven shots at the goal, for his 11 points.

Qatar next play India, while Kazakhstan take on hosts China on Friday.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia