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Roundup: China end Iran's title defence, to meet Philippines in final

Xinhua, October 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

China downed defending champions Iran 70-57 in the semifinals of Asian Championship here on Friday and will meet the Philippines in Saturday's final.

China's solid defence forced Iran to a poor 29% shooting percentage in field goals. The match started with Zhou Qi' s block on Ehadadi. China raced into a 21-12 lead by the end of the first quarter and kept the pressure on Iran, who had won three of the last four Asian Championships.

Bahrami then paced Iran to a 8-0 run but China soon responded with a splendid alley-oop. China led 39-29 after first half.

China extended their advantage after the break and once enlarged the lead to 16 points in the third quarter.

But the host had their grip loosened in the fourth quarter when Iran went on a run to cut a 14-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to just six. China then called a timeout, before Yi Jianlian caught a pass and dunked on Hamed Ehadadi. The basket sparked an 8-0 run that killed off Iran's hopes of a comeback.

Yi Jianlian finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. China were seven of 17 from behind the arc and captain Zhou Peng, who had 12, was two of three.

Hamed Ehadadi had double-double of 16 points and 11 rebound with Bahrami contributing a match-high 18 points. But other Iran players combined 23 and was only two of 16 in three-pointer shooting and had only two assists.

China is now one victory away from a spot in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. China will play against the Philippines, runner-up in 2013, who beat Japan 81-70 in another semifinal.

Andray Blatche led the Philippines with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Jayson William added 20 and seven assists.

The Philippines made into their second in-a-row Asian Championship final. It will be a first-ever final between China and the Philippines. Endi