Iran falls short against Czech at basketball opener

TEHRAN, Jul. 25 (MNA) – Iranian men’s basketball team conceded a 78-84 defeat against Czech at the opening match of the basketball competitions of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Behnam Yakhchali of Iran was named the Sunday match’s high scorer with 23 points. Blake Schilb was a high scorer for Czech with 14 points.

“We can't compare the stats to the final result, because we had 21 turnovers, we lost the rebounds, we missed seven free throws, we gave them a lot shots under the basket,” Iran coach Mehran Shahintab said, according to Tehran Times.

“In the second half the communication between the players was much better. But we still could've made ourselves stronger in the first half,” he added.

Iran is in group A of the competitions along with US, France, and Czech.

Mehran Shahintab’s team will next take on Olympics and world champion US before meeting France on Saturday.

This is the second time Iran’s basketball has made it into the summer Olympics, the first time came in the 2008 Beijing.

MAH

News ID 176508