FIBA Asia Cup 2022: Saudi Arabia loses to Indonesia in their tournament's opening match.

FIBA Asia Cup 2022: Saudi Arabia loses to Indonesia in their tournament’s opening match.

By Elijah Brown July 13, 2022770 views

The Saudi Arabian national basketball team opened the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 in Jakarta on Tuesday night by falling to the hosts Indonesia 80-45. The Saudi team is in Group A of the 16-team competition, which began on Tuesday and will last through July 24. Australia and Jordan are the other teams in this group.

The Indonesian side led 44-30 at the end of the first half and held on to that margin the rest of the way to a straightforward victory at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Palace. Mohammed Al-Marwani led Saudi Arabia with 15 points, followed by Muthanna Al-Marwani with 9, Marzouk Al-Mawlid with 8, Ayman Bal and Fahad Al-Salik with 5 each, and Thamer Mohammed with 4.

Musab Kadi, Nasser Abu Jalas, Ayoub Al-Hawsawi, and Ali Al-Shubaili all scored two baskets. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia will play Australia, and on Saturday, Jordan, to finish their group games.

Other Notable Stats

Fahad Belal made 5 assists for the Saudi team, while Andakara Prastawa Dhyaksa made 9 for Indonesia. This also shows us that Indonesia was the more focused side. Musab Tariq M Kad had 10 rebounds compared to Indonesia’s Marques Terrell Bolden with 16 rebounds.

Looking at all the stats it is easy to see how Indonesia won this game so comfortably. They are leading in points both offensively and defensively. Even in terms of general game play.

Worrying result

The same Saudi team had previously beaten Indonesia during the qualifying rounds. They have no lost out to the same team in a humiliating fashion. This just shows you much focus they lacked in the last match and if things don’t change, it will be a very small tournament for the Saudi side.

They won 69-67 during the qualifiers, where they held on to their lead. The match was quite tight and could have gone either way. Lets see if their next performance is as abysmal as this, or will we see the side play like they did during the qualification round.