Japan, Thailand, Britain win
19 Points: Margin of win for Japan over Philippines
DUBAI — Japan beat the Philippines 67-48 and Britain downed Saudi Arabia 43-28 on the third day of the Eighth Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament at Al Ahli indoor Stadium in Dubai on Wednesday.
In the other matches on Wednesday, Morocco defeated the UAE 6534, and Thailand sailed past Kuwait 75-35.
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 the tournament overall.
Indeed, the fact that 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.
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 shotshyness soon returned and stayed the course.
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.