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Japan into Asia Championship last 4, first time in 18 years

Xinhua, October 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Japan resisted a fightback from Qatar to win 81-67 at the FIBA Asia Championship quarter-final on Thursday, reaching the last four at the 55-year-old tournament for the first time since 1997.

Japan was ranked third in Group E and Qatar second in Group F, but Japan turned out to be the better team on Thursday.

Furukawa Takatoshi had a game-high 22 points to lead the Japanese team. Other three Japanese players got double digits, including Takeuchi Joji who made 15 and Hiejima Makoto who finished with 17.

Japan grabbed two fewer rebounds than the opponents, but they converted 48 percent of their shooting attempts to scores.

Qatar started slow to allow a 28-13 first-quarter lead for Japan. The gap was once extended to 22 until Qatar fought back to cut it to less than 10 in the fourth quarter.

Japan hit a series of baskets in the fourth quarter, while Qatar failed to continue their hot hands beyond the arc.

Abdelrahman Abdelhaleem had 16 points for Qatar and Mohamed Hassan Mohamed added 13.

Japan will take on the winners between the Philippines and Lebanon in the semifinal on Friday. Enditem