Korea ‘steal’ their way past Iran to finish in fifth place

Last gasp effort takes Chinese Taipei to seventh spot

ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia)- Korea effected a series of steals, and more importantly converted most of them, in the closing moments of the game and eked out a 78-73 win over Iran in the fifth place play-off on the closing day of the FIBA U16 Asia Cup 2025 at the M Bank Arena on Sunday.

Chinese Taipei earlier nipped a gallant Bahrain rally and pipped the Gulf team at the post for a 105-103 win and take the fifth place.

Taejoon Park was the leading scorer for Korea with 24 points, but also had a staggering 17 steals for the game. Two of those, which the 182-cm guard himself gave fruitful conclusion had turned the tide in favour of his team in the even-keeled encounter.

Yasin Moravat Halabi’s 19 point was the highest for Iran.

Wang I-Le does the star turn for Chinese Taipei

Having let Bahrain off the hook – almost blowing out a 14-point lead – Wang I-Le reeled in a buzzer-beating three-pointer for Chinese Taipei’s win.

Wang himself was the leading scorer for the East Asian team with 18 points with Hsiao-Cheng Che contributing 17 points.

Somto Patrick playing after a three-game rest and Hassan Abdulkadir each had 25 points for Bahrain.

FIBA