FIBA Olympic Asia Pre-Qualifying Tournament: India defeat Syria by 85-74

India began their FIBA Olympic Asia Pre-Qualifying tournament with a bang as they defeated Syria in the opening match by 85-74 on Saturday, August 12.

This is a historic moment for the country as the Indian men's basketball team, who are ranked 82nd in the world, got past 72nd-ranked Syria in the opening match of the FIBA Qualifiers.

India began the processings on a high, and Pranav Prince scored 11 points to help India win the 1st quarter by 31-16. Syria pulled things off in the second quarter by winning 19-17.

India won the third quarter with ease by 23-18 and had a point difference of 18. In the final quarter, India went down by 14-21. However, Pranav Prince's 11 points in the first quarter made the difference between the two teams. On the whole, India made 85 to Syria's 74.

Syria men's captain Nadim Issa topped the charts for the hosts with 21 points. For India, Pranav Prince was the top scorer with 21 points. Amyjot Singh also has a memorable outing as he gathered 12 points.

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FIBA Olympic Asia Pre-Qualifying tournament results on Day 1

On Saturday, Indonesia and Bahrain also emerged victorious in their respective opening match. Indonesia defeated Kazakhstan by 91-82 in the opening match. Marques Bolden was the top performer of the match with 40 points. Notably, since the 2022 Asia Cup, Kazakhstan has lost 12 consecutive times at the Asian level.

In the second match, Bahrain proved too good for Saudi Arabia as they won the opening match by 89-74. Dwayne Chism was the stand-out performer for Bahrain with 24 points. Notably, he shot 10 out of 13 from the field. Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Alsuwailem was impressive as he gathered 23 points.

India will meet Indonesia in the second match of the tournament. The team that finishes at the top of the points table will make it to the main FIBA Qualifiers in 2024.