Japan and Great Britain both restricted their respective opponents – the Philippines and Saudi Arabia – to four-point hauls in the first quarter, which set up rather routine victories in the remaining half hour.
Kazuyuki Kyoya’s side established a nine-point advantage (13-4) initially and they had stretched their buffer to 12 (28-16) by the midway stage.
However, to the Philippines’ great credit, Japan weren’t allowed to run away with it thereafter as the Filipinos progressively grew more and more into their early-morning encounter, much like they have in the tournament overall.
Indeed, the fact Japan led by 18 points by the end of the third quarter (46-28) and 19 at the final buzzer (67-48) is testament to the Philippines’ increasing influence in what coach Vernon Perea later hailed as their best display of the competition so far.
Like the Japanese, the British contingent kept it tight at the back for the opening 10 minutes against the Saudis and reaped the rewards for it with a 19-4 lead from the first quarter.
Saudi Arabia bravely rallied thereafter with a fair few three pointers to claw the deficit back to eight (28-20) at the halfway point, but their shot-shyness soon returned and stayed the course.
They only scored eight more points in total – two of which came in a fourth quarter that only saw six scored overall as GB mustered a paltry four at the other end.
“It was a very low-scoring game,” reflected GB coach Haj Bhania afterwards following a 43-28 success. “If you can restrict your opponents to a certain number of points though, you inherently know that you can score more and that is huge. Defence is so important and it really does make a lot of difference.”
Thailand also blanked – and blocked out – Kuwait for the first five minutes of their Group B tussle, allowing them to race 35 points (46-11) ahead by half-time and their eventual winning margin had reached 40 (75-35) some 20 minutes later.
“This game was very important as it gave me an opportunity to take a look at all of my players and I took it,” Thailand coach Mohammad Reza Dastyar stated.
“We opted for a full-court press in terms of our defensive line because, if we were to revert to a more zonal system, the Kuwaitis have two very good shooters that can score almost at will. The key for us therefore was to pay very close attention to them out there on the court.”
It was an action-packed third day of the tournament.
The Group A clash between Morocco and the UAE was mercifully a more evenly-matched, all-MENA affair, with the host nation giving a good account of themselves early on prior to succumbing 65-34.
Thursday is the fifth and final day of action in Al Qusais, where the play-off games to determine which national sides finish seventh/eighth and fifth/sixth will take place at 9am and 11am respectively.
The bronze medal match is then scheduled for 5pm on Thursday afternoon, with the final set for 8pm that evening.
Group A: Japan, Morocco, Philippines, UAE.
Group B: Great Britain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Thailand.
Results: Group A: Japan 68-51 Morocco, Philippines 58-64 UAE, Japan 67-46 UAE, Morocco 81-44 Philippines, Japan 67-48 Philippines, Morocco 65-34 UAE.
Group B: Great Britain 51-54 Thailand, Kuwait 50-56 Saudi Arabia, Great Britain 68-36 Kuwait, Saudi Arabia 49-61 Thailand, Great Britain 43-28 Saudi Arabia, Kuwait 35-75 Thailand.
Thursday’s Fixtures:
9am: Seventh/Eighth Place Play-Off.
11am: Fifth/Sixth Place Play-Off.
5pm: Third/Fourth Place Play-Off.
8pm: Final.
