Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has expressed gratitude to Iranian basketball players for earning the championship title at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.I would like to thank the national basketball team for the victory, which brought joy to our dear people, the Leader said in a message published on Sunday.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also congratulated Iranians on the victory and thanked the players and technical staff as well as the countrys Basketball Federation for their hard work in achieving the success.
Earlier in the day, Iran defeated host Philippines 85-71 to bag gold at the 27th FIBA Asian mens basketball championship, grabbing its third Asian title after four years.
Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian player in the US National Basketball Association (NBA), scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as he towered over his opponents.
Iranian basketball players managed to win the battle while the host team played in front of a crowd of about 20,000, with Filipino President Benigno Aquino and other high-ranking officials at courtside to cheer them on.
Iran, the Philippines, and third-placed South Korea will go to the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.
The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship opened in the Asian country on August 1, and ended on August 11. A total of 15 teams took part in the sports event.
By Press TV
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