Saudi Arabia’s national basketball team has qualified for the delayed 2021 FIBA Asia Cup in Indonesia next year after beating Palestine 96-72 in Jeddah on Sunday night.
The Kingdom finished top of the three-team final qualification group, organized by the Saudi Arabian Basketball Federation, after two wins from two games.
The team will progress alongside India to the tournament finals, which has already been postponed twice and is set to take place in July 2022.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia started their campaign with a comfortable 80-61 win over India, who in turn beat Palestine the following night 79-77.
This meant Palestine needed a high-scoring win to qualify with Saudi Arabia, requiring a 36-point win to progress.
But the Kingdom quickly established its superiority, leading 27-15 after the first quarter and 59-29 at half-time.
The home team continued to dominate in the second half, and led 84-51 at the end of the third quarter. Palestine rallied in the final quarter but the final result was still a comprehensive 96-72 for the Saudis.
Saudi Arabia has now confirmed its place in the tournament alongside hosts Indonesia, Lebanon, Bahrain, Iran, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Syria, the Philippines, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
