India went down to China 100-69 in their second Group C game at FIBA Asia Cup 2025

Jeddah [Saudi Arabia], August 8 (ANI): The Indian basketball team lost their second consecutive Group C game in the ongoing FIBA Asia Cup 2025 as they lost to China 100-69 on Thursday.

After almost pulling off a historic upset in their tournament opener against Jordan, world No. 76 India suffered their second successive loss in the competition against 30th-ranked China.

Sahaij Sekhon was the top scorer for India with 14 points, while Mingxuan Hu and Jiayi Zhao led the way for China with 17 points each, as per Olympics.com.

Palpreet Singh Brar scored the first points of the match by sinking a two-pointer to get India on the scoreboard.

However, China soon seized control of the action by going on a 12-point run before India looked to fight their way back into the contest and ended the first quarter trailing 29-14.

China outscored India once again in the second quarter, extending their lead to 53-31 at half-time.

The 16-time champions, China, pulled away decisively in the final two quarters, sealing a commanding victory over India to remain unbeaten in Group C, having also won their opener against Saudi Arabia.

Thursday's loss to China is India's fifth defeat in as many basketball meetings against them, as per Olympics.com.

India, whose last win at the FIBA Asia Cup came in 2015, will play hosts and world No. 65 Saudi Arabia next in their final group game on Saturday. A loss to Saudi Arabia would see India knocked out of the FIBA Asia Cup.

Group winners advance directly to the quarter-finals, while second and third-placed teams play a qualifying round to decide the remaining quarter-final spots.

India's best finish at the FIBA Asia Cup came in 1975, when they placed fourth in Bangkok. However, they have struggled in recent editions, finishing 14th in Lebanon (2017) and 16th in Indonesia (2022). (ANI)

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