These days, no one can resist Cedars in the Asian continent. Despite their defeat in Jordan (74-63) last February, Jad el-Hajj’s men crushed everything in their path in the “Austral-Asia” qualifying group for this 2023 World Cup (which will kick off in late August in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines). ). Facing India, who are last in the standings, the task looked insurmountable to achieve a seventh successive success in the competition.

If the second game in three days is just a formality, the Lebanese coach warned: “We must always play with the same seriousness and involvement as we showed tonight”, said Jad el-Hajj in his winning way. people at the expense of New Zealand (77-65), Friday at the Pierre Gemayel stadium in Beirut, in the sports city of Camille Chammoun.

New recital by Ali Haïdar

A message received 5 out of 5 by Cedars who, despite the absence of a number of executive players, such as Waël Arakji, their game masters, Sergio Darwiche or Elie Chamoun, had no trouble dominating their opponents head and shoulders.

Led for the first five minutes of play, Lebanon quickly regained the lead and never let go until the final whistle. Thanks to Ali Haïdar who was once again exemplary, stringing together winning drives and offensive rebounds on opposing rackets, the locals had plenty of time to unravel the full extent of their offensive arsenal against a quickly overwhelmed Indian team.

With the exception of the last seconds of the first quarter, Jean-Marc Jarrouge’s long-range shot sounded like the first blow to the visitors’ head that was brought down to 4 lengths (24-20).

The gap quickly rose to over 10 units from the start of the second half. The Indians were literally smothered by the all-terrain pressure exerted by teammate Ali Haïdar, pivot and captain of the night who would end his recital with a total of 27 points and 7 rebounds, the meeting’s best performance so far. Jarrouge and Jad Khalil were not to be outdone, they would go on to score 18 and 15 points respectively, and were pushing heavily for the interior, including Jonathan Alredge, also a 15-point writer.

Sometimes misleading, the statistical sheets are enough to deduce the overwhelming domination of the Lebanese. With no less than 31 offensive rebounds and 20 steals, most of which contributed to 43 points scored in turnovers (when one team recovers the ball before the other can take a shot), Cedars did not do their opponents any luck.

Philippines in plain sight

The final score is final: 103-74. If things weren’t perfect, the Lebanese pressed on unflinchingly towards first place in the group. A ranking that would guarantee him a place among the top seeds in the draw for the next World Cup, a more than essential condition for hoping to do well in competition at such a high level.

But before planning such a deadline, Cedars will have two last chances to acclimate to the South Asian floor during their trip to the Philippines and New Zealand on February 24 and 27.