Muhamad Atib Zakaria’s 30-point game helped Malaysia overcome Iraq 67-47 to top Pool B in Division Two of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) Asia Oceania Championship in Pattaya.
Malaysia will now play Pool A runners-up Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals. Victory over Chinese Taipei would earn the national side a berth in the quarter-finals of the main competition.
The top two teams from the division will play in the knockout stages against the top six teams in Division One comprising of Thailand, Japan, Australia, China, Korea and Iran.
Three teams from the knockout stages will then qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Japan as hosts have already qualified for the Paralympics.
In the match against Iraq, Malaysia started off cautiously and both teams ended the period level 14-14. Iraq kept pace with the Malaysians in the second period with both teams going into the interval again on equal terms 27-27.
An 18-point blitz from Muhamad Atib allowed the Malaysian side to pull ahead 43-36 at the end of the third period and the Malaysian were never threatened after that.
Muhammad Azzwar Hassan Asaari also reached double digits for Malaysia with 10 points while Freday Tan Yei Bing added nine points for Malaysia. The top scorers for Iraq were Raad Al-Khafaji (10) and Saif Al-Taie (9).
With 64 points from three matches, Muhamad Atib is the overall leader in the individual points scored standings at the championships.
The other semi-finals will see Saudi Arabia taking on the Philippines. The Saudi’s edged Chinese Taipei 46-44 to top Pool A.
Japan and Australia are unbeaten in Division One with three wins each. Japan picked up their third win defeating China 63-42 while Australia beat Iran 78-55 for their third victory.
RESULTS
DIVISION ONE: Japan bt China 63-42; Australia bt Iran 78-55; Korea bt Thailand 79-42
DIVISION TWO
POOL A: Saudi Arabia bt Chinese Taipei 46-44; Afghanistan bt Indonesia 63-21
POOL B: Malaysia bt Iraq 67-47; Philippines bt India 70-13
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