Taiwan’s men’s national basketball team are to play against New Zealand, Iraq and the Philippines in Group D of the FIBA Asia Cup this summer as the groups for the 31st edition of the event were confirmed in Tuesday’s draw in Doha.
This year’s Asia Cup is to be played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from Aug. 5 to Aug. 17. It is the first time the Gulf state is hosting the FIBA’s flagship event in Asia since 1997.
The tournament is to feature 16 teams divided into four groups of four teams each.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan are in Group D with New Zealand, Iraq and the Philippines.
Qatar, Australia, South Korea and Lebanon are to face off against each other in Group A, while Guam, Japan, Syria and Iran would be in Group B and China, Jordan, India and Saudi Arabia would be in Group C.
The teams are to play a single-round-robin format during the group phase, with the top finishers in each group directly qualifying for the quarter-finals.
The second and third-placed teams would play an additional game to determine the other four teams that advance to the next round.
The event then becomes a single-elimination tournament.
Defending champions Australia won their second consecutive Asia Cup in Jakarta in 2022 after beating Lebanon in the final, while Taiwan finished 10th in 2022 with a 1-3 record and had to qualify to make this year’s tournament.
Iraq also competed in qualifiers to reach the final 16, leaving New Zealand, ranked third in Asia, and the Philippines, ranked seventh, as the clear favorites in Group D.
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