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Japan made their third consecutive final of the Asian Para Games with a commanding performance over China to take an 81-53 win. They scored evenly across the board, with only one player not making the scoresheet, as they won all four quarters, 25-10, 16-15, 24-15 and 16-13.
Hiroaki Kozai led the scoring for Japan with 18 points, Kei Akita with 12 points and Naohiro Murakami 10 points. China’s Yinhai Lin scored 31 points.
Japan will meet Iran in the final as they defeated South Korea to secure their place in the gold medal game for the first time.
Iran came out on top in a physical game as South Korea struggled to match Iran’s height and strength with the Iranians taking a twenty-point advantage into half-time. The second half continued in the same vein with Iran’s Head Coach Mohammadreza Dastyar rotating his bench and giving all his players court time as they extended their lead with quarter scores of 22-10 and 25-20 to take the victory, 89-52.
Iran’s Omid Hadiazhar and South Korea’s Dong Hyeon Gim joint top scored with 24 points each.
Thailand finished fifth with a 70-55 win over Chinese Taipei. In a close first quarter, Thailand held a small five-point lead, 26-21, and with the second and third quarters also fairly evenly matched, Chinese Taipei trailed by just six points going in to the final ten minutes, 36-42 down. A formidable start to the fourth quarter from Thailand though, saw them go on an 11-2 run and give them some breathing space to finish with confidence for the win.
Three players hit double figures for Thailand, Pongsakorn Sripirom (25 points), Athin Singdong (14 points), and Aekkasit Jumjarean (13 points), with Chun Su (11 points) and Chun-Yi Lu (10 points) leading the scoring for Chinese Taipei.
In the remaining placing games, Iraq finished 7th with a 74-49 victory over Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia got their only win of the tournament beating Indonesia, 79-23.
RESULTS FROM DAY 6 OF THE INDONESIA 2018 ASIAN PARA GAMES
Men's 9th/10th - Indonesia 23-79 Malaysia
Men's 7th/8th - Iraq 74-49 Saudi Arabia
Men's 5th/6th - Thailand 70-55 Chinese Taipei
Men's SF - IR Iran 89-52 South Korea
Men's SF - Japan 81-53 China
SCHEDULE FOR DAY 8 – OCTOBER 13TH
09:30 – Game 39 Men's Bronze Medal – KOR v CHN
11:30 – Game 40 Men 's Final – IRI v JPN
2018 Indonesia Asian Para Games - Men's Wheelchair Basketball Competition Schedule & Statistics
Photo Credit INAPGOC
