TEHRAN – Iran’s men’s basketball team beat Saudi Arabia 81-66 in Group A of the 2022 Asian Games on Thursday.

In the match held at the HOC Gymnasium in Hangzhou, Meysam Rezaei led Iran with 17 p0ints and Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Mohammed Abdelgabar collected 15 points.

Team Melli defeated the UAE 81-57 in their opening match and are scheduled to face Kazakhstan on Saturday.

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

With more than 12,000 competitors from 45 nations and territories, the 2022 Asian Games has more participants than the Olympics.

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