Trained by Mehran Hatami, the Petrochimi Bandar Imam team made history thanks to their remarkable performance. Confronted by ambitious billionaires, they won games one after another until they reached the championship title in the Asia.

It was the sixth win by an Iranian basketball club across Asia. Before that, Saba Batri (twice), Mahram (twice) and Foolad Mahan Esfahan (once) had won the Asian title. It was now Petrochimi Bandar Imam’s turn to become known in Asia. This club had already won titles in the Pro League and West Asia. But now it had to win the Asian title to perfect its honors. That was finally achieved.

From Start to Finale

Petrochimi Bandar Imam went first face-to-face with South Korea’s Sky Nights and won with 77-62. Their second match was with China-Taipei, which ended in 96-63 in favor of the Iranian team. The third match was between Petrochimi Bandar Imam and China’s team. The Chinese side was eliminated after falling 69-108 to Petrochimi Bandar Imam. In the semi-finales, Petrochimi Bandar Imam and the Philippines settled squares and the match finally ended 79-74 for Petrochimi Bandar Imam to go into the finale.

Representing Iran, Petrochimi Bandar Imam went to Asia with eight basketballers and returned with a championship title. The victory was achieved after two years of failure. The Iranian side had no foreign basketballers, but overpowered Japan in the final match with 66-64 result.

Meysam Mirzaei was selected the best basketballer for gaining 28 points, 7 rebounds and 33 assists. Arsalan Kazemi, who was also awarded, gained 9 points, 14 rebounds and 26 assists.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interview with Petrochimi Bandar Imam Coach:

Self-Confidence, Motivation Key to Asia Title

The Petrochimi Bandar Imam Basketball team had been sent to the Asian matches in Thailand in the 11^th hour, but it raised eyebrows thanks to its brilliant performance.

Nobody expected such achievement from the Petrochimi Bandar Imam team, but Mehran Hatami made their wishes come true. Now everyone in the basketball circles speaks about Petrochimi Bandar Imam.

Here is an interview with Hatami:

Would you please tell us about championship in Asia?

The championship title won by Petrochimi Bandar Imam was the product of efforts by the players. The eight basketballers in the Petrochimi Bandar Imam team did their best throughout matches and assisted the team in achieving its main objective. The players were great and they did their best.

Did you ever think of championship in light of conditions you were in?

It would be exaggeration if I say yes, but as soon as the matches started and we won the first and the second one I was convinced that we will make history. We continued the same trend we had started and finally managed to win the championship title. We were not numerous, but we were highly motivated.

You said you were eight. How did you manage to cause motivation in the team?

The special conditions of the Petrochimi Bandar Imam team and the low number of basketballers had automatically motivated us to win better results. But when you have fewer players you fear more. But you should always keep in mind that a single combatant is much better than 100,000 extras. I feel happy to have had eight genuine combatants. We did not have players to fill some posts, but others helped make up for shortages. My basketballers did their utmost on the basketball court and the only reason for such relentless efforts was their high motivation.

What was your tactic in defeating famous Asian rivals?

As you know our team was not complete and under such circumstances tactical plans cannot prove effective. You have to work on the mental and psychological aspects of your players. My basketballers are all professional. I had to work on mental issues so that they would play better. I reiterate that the championship title in Asia was the product of a group work, and regarding my team I have to say that mutual trust between me and my young basketballers as well as mutual trust among the players themselves helped us win the championship title in Asia.

So everything was the result of confidence and solidarity, wasn’t it?

Ever since I was selecting the basketball players, I had constantly insisted that we had to remain alongside each other throughout the matches because I believe that would be the only way to achieve better results. My basketballers were technically qualified and the issue of ethics was the more important point. In the matches, the basketballers were supporting one another. That is why I had a homogenous team.

Would you please tell us about your rivals and their standing? How much did you know them?

All teams taking part in the Asian clubs matches were in ideal conditions. That a team participates in such matches without previous training may sound unimaginable. The teams from South Korea and Lebanon were the only ones with a single foreign player each. Other teams like Thailand and China-Taipei had at least two foreign members. The Philippines’ team had three American basketballers in its composition and the Japanese side had four, two of whom were on the bench. That is while our team had not had even 12 players. The only option for us was to motivate players into playing better. What our team did was a big job. It becomes especially important when we take into consideration the conditions they were in.

Do you have any plans for the League?

We will start training very quickly and we plan to attract several new players in order to prepare for the League matches and win the championship title. In the last season, we lost the title and we are now determined to win in.

Courtesy of Iran Petroleum