TEHRAN – Iran basketball team were defeated against Czech Republic 84-78 in their first match in the 2020 Olympic Games in Saitama on Sunday.

Iran guard Behnam Yakhchali scored a game-high 23 points, also matching the number of letters in his name and surname.

Patrik Auda scored 16 points for Czech Republic.

“We can't compare the stats to the final result, because we had 21 turnovers, we lost the rebounds, we missed seven free throws, we gave them a lot shots under the basket,” Iran coach Mehran Shahintab said.

“In the second half the communication between the players was much better. But we still could've made ourselves stronger in the first half,” he added.

Both teams return to play Wednesday, with Iran facing the U.S. and the Czech Republic playing France in Group A matchups.