TEHRAN - It is now obvious that the under 18 Lebanese selection won’t be participating in the under 19 World championship that will take place in July 2009 in New Zealand. After its defeats in the first two games that opposed it Sunday to Kazakhstan (106-103) and Monday to China (101-74), Lebanon should have imperatively won Tuesday with a difference of 35 points against Syria in order to be able to join the last square of the 20th Asian Basketball Championship of the category, in Tehran from August 28 to September 5.

Unfortunately, our juniors did not make it. The 10 point difference (90-80) gave their enemies the opportunity to make it to the semi-finals where they will face Iran. As for the second semi-finals, they deprived Kazakhstan from its chance to win against China who made it with a score of 97-64 in Japan.
Here are some statistics:
Lebanon 90 (Ahmad Ibrahim 34, Ralph Akl 11) Vs Syria 80 (Samar Bawadekji 25, Tarek Al Jade 12)

Results of the four quarters: 30-20, 45-37, 64-56.

…and here are the classifications of the two groups:
Group I
Kazakhstan 5 pts
Syria 4 pts
China 4 pts
Lebanon 4 pts

Group II
Iran 5 pts
Japan 4 pts
South Korea 3 pts
Philippines 4 pts