Lebanon score upset victory in basketball's Asia Cup as they beat China in quarter-finals

Lebanon's national basketball team scored an upset victory on Wednesday when they beat powerhouse China in the quarter-finals of the FIBA Asia Cup.

The Chinese team, who have won the Asia Cup sixteen times, were very much the favourites to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament.

However, The Cedars took the bull by the horns, raced to an early lead, and were just about able to fight off a strong comeback from their opponents to win the match 72-69.

"We’re writing history for the country… we did it as a team as a unit and this is the most important thing," said Wael Arakji, Lebanon's star player in Wednesday's match.

Power forward Hayk Gyokchyan dedicated the win to "the people of Lebanon".

On social media, Lebanese praised the team for providing a ray of hope during an otherwise difficult time for the country.

Lebanon will face Jordan in the semi-finals on Saturday, after the latter beat a traditionally strong Iran team 91-76.