The Indian men’s basketball team fell to a 81-61 loss to Qatar in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Monday.

Tyler Harris starred in the triumph for Qatar with 24 points as he started out hot in the game by nailing his first seven shots from the field without a miss. The lanky forward finished with an collected seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals without committing any turnover in the process.

Ndoye Seydou went an efficient 6-of-8 from the floor and ended up with 15 points, while the debuting Donte Grantham came through with 11 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Despite the loss, India stay in contention to qualify for the continental championships.

Having played all their matches, India finished third in Group E, which is also termed as the Group of Death, thanks to their head-to-head advantage against Kazakhstan.

The Scott Flemming coached India had beaten Kazakhstan 88-69 in the qualification window last year in front of their home crowd in Chennai.

With this result against Qatar, India will now head into the qualifying tournament for the third-place teams for one last attempt to qualify for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.

The 2025 FIBA Asia Cup is slated to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from August 5-17 later this year.