FILE – Gilas Pilipinas center June Mar Fajardo shoots a free throw against Iran in the gold medal match of the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship in Manila. PBA IMAGES
The first and only time June Mar Fajardo and Hamed Haddadi met, it was a matchup that never was as Iran’s star center led his team to a gold medal in the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship while Fajardo hardly saw action.
A lot has changed since and Filipinos, convinced Fajardo will get the better of Haddadi in a second encounter, have been longing for a redo.
The rematch could’ve happened in Changsha, China in the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship, but Fajardo, who has improved leaps and bounds since that meeting, missed the tournament due to plantar fasciitis on both feet.
With Iran back in Manila to play a couple of tuneup games against Gilas Pilipinas, now would’ve been the perfect time for the duel with Fajardo better than ever.
The 7-foot-2 Haddadi, however, wasn’t able to make the trip to Manila.
“He (Haddadi) is still part of the team. He had some personal thing to take care of. He’s not going to come to the Philippines,” said Iran’s German head coach Dirk Bauermann on Saturday at Novotel Manila Araneta Center. “Whether or not he’s going to be able to join us in China, which is where we go from here, we don’t know yet.”
The first Gilas-Iran scrimmage set on Tuesday will be closed-door. It will be a simulated game wth the teams mimicking game situations in preparation for their buildup in the Fiba Olympic qualifying tournament.
Wednesday’s tuneup, meanwhile, will be played in front of a crowd at Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Philippines and Iran are participating in different qualifiers with Gilas playing at home and the Iranians competing in Turin, Italy.
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