There was no mistaking the Middle East influence at the Asian Games yesterday, the final day of competition in the regional games.
Iran beat Jordan 84-78 in the men's basketball bronze medal final, one of only three events before the closing ceremonies later yesterday.
China, easily the most dominant country at the 15th Asian Games, beat host Qatar 59-44 in the basketball gold medal game yesterday, while Persian Gulf neighbors Iraq and Qatar were to meet in the men's soccer final.
PHOTO: AFP
Chinese NBA prospect Yi Jianlian was looking to make a big impression in what could be his last major international basketball game before the NBA draft in June.
After the game, Yi will return to China and continue playing with his domestic club, the Guangzhou Tigers, where he is a power forward or center.
Major high
Qatar came into the basketball final on a major high -- it had never finished better than ninth (2002) at the Asian Games. Former US collegiate coach Joey Stiebing, who stresses defense, became coach two years ago and led the team to a third-place finish in last year's Asian championships. The team qualified for this year's world championship, but failed to advance past the group stage.
China has an overwhelming lead in the medal standings, with 164 golds and 315 overall.
Second-place South Korea has 58 golds and 193 overall, followed by Japan in third (50 and 198).
Doha organizers reported yesterday that the event Web site had received 100 million hits since the games began officially on Dec. 1, while 750,000 spectators had attended the competitions.
The organizers will hold assessment meetings over the next month to analyze their hosting of these games as they prepare to fine-tune a plan to bid for the 2016 Olympics.
The closing ceremonies were scheduled to include a flag hand-over ceremony involving Guangzhou, China, which will host the 2010 Asian Games.
Focus
China's focus before then will firmly be on the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where it aims to supplant the US atop the medal standings.
Liu Peng, who led the Chinese delegation to Doha, said despite China's overwhelming domination in the Asian Games, it was not a true indication of where the country stood in terms of Olympic preparation.
"Although we've achieved excellent results in the Asian Games, it does not mean that we will have the same performance in the Olympics," Liu told a news conference. "We must redouble our efforts to meet the great coming challenges."
China came in second only to the US in the gold medal standings at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Russia came in third.
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