Basketball: India face must-win clash against Saudi Arabia in FIBA Asia Cup
India suffer big loss to Asian powerhouse China
India’s FIBA Asia Cup 2025 is in serious danger of being brought to an abrupt end after the men’s national team suffered back-to-back defeats in Group C of the competition over the past week at the King Abdulah Sports City.
Ranked 76th in the world, India kicked off the tournament against Jordan and were clear underdogs with most of the best online betting sites, but they managed to defy the odds against the world number 35, holding them to an 80-80 draw at the end of regulation time.
Unfortunately, they were unable to finish off the job in added time, with Jordan romping to a 91-84 victory, led by Dar Tucker, who top-scored with 30 points, while Hashem Abbas put up 24. Arvind Muthu Krishnan was India’s highest scorer with 14 points.
Against China, the Indian team made a brisk start, with Palpreet Singh Bar draining the first points of the game to give his side the lead, but their opponents quickly found their rhythm and were in full control by the end of the first quarter, up 29-14, before heading into halftime wth a 23-point advantage.
The 16-time FIBA Asia Cup champs refused to step off the gas in the second half and ended up securing a commanding 100-69 victory by the final buzzer. They are still unbeaten in the competition, having defeated Saudi Arabia in their opening game.
India face another early Asia Cup elimination
Following their heavy loss to China, any chance of India remaining in the competition now relies entirely on beating Saudi Arabia this weekend, and you can follow the match live using our basketball livescore tool. However, a look at the team’s record in the tournament does not do much to help build confidence in their chances.
Indeed, team India’s best-ever finish at a FIBA Asia Cup competition came five decades ago, back in the 1975 edition, where they clinched fourth place. In more recent years, they’ve underperformed, finishing 14th in 2017 and 16th in 2022.
China are massive favourites to advance directly to the next stage as group winners, which means that Jordan, India and Saudi Arabia will be fighting for second and third spot, which will take them into a qualifying round to contest for the remaining quarter-final slots.
Unfortunately, the last time India won a match at the Asia Cup was in 2015, and they are set to take on a side with home advantage and coming into this match off the back of a very impressive performance against the Jordanians on Thursday.
