TEHRAN (Iran) - Iran formalized their entry to the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 following a 106-55 drubbing of India at the Azadi Basketball Hall, Friday night.
Hungry to get the job done after being foiled by Qatar last November, Team Melli leaned on defense to generate their offense and broke the game wide open in a masterclass of a second quarter that the visitors could never recover.
The traditional contenders would then go on to secure their ticket to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and head to the continental meet for the 10th straight time, 19th overall.
Mohammad Amini starred in the victory with a game-high 33 points in easily one of the most spectacular individual performances of the Asia Cup Qualifiers.
The 19-year-old winger shot an excellent 14-of-15 from the floor to set the most field goals made in an Asia Cup Qualifiers game - two clear of the previous mark set the trio of Ahmed Haji, Brian Halums, and Freddie Lish on separate occassions.
He went a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc as well, tying Karim Zeinoun for most three-pointers in a game without a miss which the 3-and-D guard set during Lebanon's 116-73 win over Bahrain in Zouk Mikael back in February 25, 2020.
The former youth team standout was already bound for a big night when he fired 11 in the second period alone, outscoring the entire opposition as Iran went on an overwhelming 28-5 tear to build a commanding 46-20 lead at the half.
It would never get close since, with Amini and the rest of the squad continuing the onslaught to send their foes crashing back down to earth after pulling off a massive 88-69 upset of Kazakhstan in Chennai back in the November window.
The others also made their presence felt in the flat-out domination, with Matin Aghajanpour delivering 18 points which he all collected from deep.
Hasan Aliakbari chipped in 10 points while veteran internationalist Arsalan Kazemi finished with 5 points, 10 rebounds, and a pair of steals in an all-around effort.
Now at 4-1 in Group E, the three-time Asia Cup champions could finish their Qualifiers campaign with a win against Kazakhstan in Astana on February 24.
Meanwhile, none from India scored in double figures aside from Amritpal Singh, who had 18 points in the loss that saw the team commit 29 turnovers.
India fell to 1-4 following the loss, making their next meeting against Qatar in Doha on February 24 as well a must-win situation if they are to stay in contention.