Qatar got off to a shining start in the Doha Asian Games men's basketball tournament with an 99-59 victory over Syria in Doha yesterday evening.

Ismail Yasseen Musa and Khalid Suliman Abdi combined for 22 points to lift Qatar up 48-33 at the half time. Syria put up some resistance in the third quarter, only to see Qatar fight back even more strongly and surge away in the fourth.

"Our guys came out with a lot of intensity and a lot of efforts," said Qatar's American head coach Joseph Stiebing. "I started a group that probably won't start for the rest of the tournament, but to their credit, they came out to play much better than I expected."

Musa finished with a team-high 16 points in the second-round Group A match with Malek Salem Abdulla and Daoud Mousa Daoud adding 14 apiece.