TEHRAN – Iran defeated Syria 80-67 in their opening match of the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup on Wednesday.

Behnam Yakhchali scored 31 points for Iran while Hani Adribe, Amer Alsati and Anthouny Bakar earned 12 points for Syria each.

The Persians will also play Kazakhstan and Japan in Pool C on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

The Group Phase will be played from July 12-17. The 16 teams competing in Asia Cup 2022 were drawn into four groups of four.

Every group winner will gain direct access to the quarter final, while runners-up will play third placed teams in a playoff games.

Originally intended to be the 2021 edition, the tournament was initially scheduled to take place between 3 and 15 August 2021, but it was postponed due to 17 to 29 August 2021 to avoid scheduling conflict with the 2020 Summer Olympics which was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 It was later postponed again to 12 to 24 July 2022.