Iran, Canada and Australia will look to extend their unbeaten streaks on the fourth day of preliminary games that will take place Wednesday, September 10 at the National Indoor Stadium and the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium.
Japan v Canada (Group A)
Japan has accumulated one win and two losses. They surprisingly beat Germany in their second match, and lost to Sweden and Iran.
Japan's Hiroaki Kozai stands as the team's top scorer, averaging 16.7 points per game after three matches. Reo Fujimoto averaged 11.3 rebounds per game.
By defeating Sweden 62:52 on Tuesday, Canada remains undefeated with three wins. They won against Germany on Sunday and against South Africa on Monday.
Patrick Anderson grabbed 19 of his team's 51 rebounds, and tallied one-third of their 18 assists, in Canada's win over Sweden on Tuesday.
Sweden v South Africa (Group A)
Sweden, the reigning European Champion, dropped to 1-2 in the tournament after losing 62-52 to Canada on Tuesday. They defeated Japan on Sunday, but lost 92-66 to Iran on Monday.
Following Sweden's loss to Canada on Tuesday, guard Enoch Ablorh said they look forward to playing South Africa. "We will make good preparations for it," he said.
South Africa remains winless after three matches. They lost to Japan, and were heavily defeated by Canada and Germany, averaging 26.7 turnovers per game.
South Africa's Nicholas Taylor and Richard Nortje both average more than 15 points. Taylor has scored 17.3 points per game while Nortje has 15.3 points per game average.
Germany v Iran (Group A)
Germany recovered on Tuesday from their first two losses, as they beat easily South Africa. Before, they had lost to Canada and Japan.
Dirk Passiwan of Germany is the leading scorer in a well-distributed offence. The forward averaged 14.3 points per game, while Ahmet Coskun contributed 10.3 points per game.
Iran surprised everyone winning their first three matches. They remain unbeaten after playing South Africa, Sweden and Japan.
Iran's Alireza Ahmadi is the tournament top scorer and sits second in assists after three matches. The guard averaged 23 points and 6.3 assists per game.
Australia v Israel (Group B)
Israel is 2-1 thus far in the tournament, having handed Brazil a 73-60 loss on Tuesday. They lost 76-53 to the United States on Sunday, and thrashed China 80-41 on Monday.
Following Tuesday's win over Brazil, Israeli center and game high scorer Lior Dror said, "Australia has a lot of good big guys, and good players on the bench. It will be a very tough game for us."
Dror and forward Dotan Meishar are averaging over 17 points per game.
Centre Brad Ness led Australia to their third win in as many games. In Tuesday's 79-44 trouncing of China, Ness was the game's high scorer with 31 points.
China v USA (Group B)
China has lost all three of their games thus far, each by a wide margin: 81-34 vs. Great Britain (Sunday), 80-41 vs. Israel (Monday) and 79-44 vs. Australia (Tuesday).
Forward Huang Xunan said China is gaining confidence, despite Tuesday's heavy loss to Australia. "The cooperation between us is getting better, and our psychological ability is better than before," he said.
The US team suffered their first defeat of the tournament in a 54-50 loss to Great Britain on Tuesday. They won against Israel on Sunday and won against Brazil on Monday.
Following the United States' loss to the Great Britain on Tuesday, guard and team captain Mikey Paye said they could win against China "if we just focus on it."
Great Britain v Brazil (Group B)
Fresh from Tuesday's win against the US team, Great Britain is 2-1 thus far in the tournament. They beat China on Sunday but lost to Australia on Monday.
Brazil dropped to 0-3 in the tournament after their 73-60 loss to Israel on Tuesday. They lost 73-72 to Australia on Sunday, and lost 71-48 to the United States on Monday.
Brazilian coach Itamar Ruiz Silva said they hope to win against the Great Britain, despite having lost all three games so far in the tournament.
(BOCOG September 10, 2008)