TEHRAN – Iran’s men’s basketball team defeated the UAE 81-57 in Group A of the 2022 Asian Games on Tuesday.

Navid Rezaeifar led Iran with 19 points and Qais Omar Ahmed Alshabebi from the UAE collected 23 points.

Team Melli will play Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Iran basketball have not yet won gold medal in the history of Asian Games.

A record high of nearly 12,500 athletes from 45 countries and territories compete across 40 sports in the 2022 Asian Games.

Iran has sent 289 male and female athletes to the Games in 34 sports events.