Draw completed for 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship

Defending champions China were drawn with fellow East Asian team Chinese Taipei, Middle Asia’s India and SEABA’s Malaysia in Group A for the Preliminary Round of the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship to be held in Nha Trang City in Vietnam from Oct 18-28, 2011.

The draw was conducted at the Media Conference Room at the Wuhan Sports Center in Wuhan (China) on Sunday, the final day of the 26th FIBA Asia Championship.

Group B involves Korea, who lost to China in the final of the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship at Johor Bahru (Malaysia) two years ago, along with two WABA teams Iraq and Lebanon and Uzbekistan.

Iran, the bronze medalists from Johor Bahru lead the fray in Group C also comprising Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

With only 15 teams in fray, Group D will see only three teams and all-SEABA affair – Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“It is a great significance that we are conducting this draw for the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship on the final day of the 26th FIBA Asia Championship,” said FIBA Asia president Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al-Thani who presided over the draw proceedings.

“The 26th FIBA Asia Championship will decide the champion team of FIBA Asia, while the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship will throw up the stars for the future,” he said.

FIBA Asia will run a special event website http://nhatrang2011.fibaasia.net during the event.

Groupings for the Preliminary Round

Group A: China, India, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei

Group B: Korea, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Lebanon

Group C: Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Japan

Group D: Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam

India’s U16 side qualified for the championship after defeating Nepal and Sri Lanka in qualifiers in New Delhi in August

About 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship

The 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship is the qualifying event for the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship to be played in Lithuania from July 17-26, 2012.

The top two teams from the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship will represent FIBA Asia at Lithuania.

System of Competition

The 16 teams are pooled into four groups of four teams each for the Preliminary Round.

The top three teams from each group will advance to the Second Round, and will be drawn into two groups of six teams each.

In the Second Round, each team will carry forward the results against the other qualifying teams in their Preliminary Round group and will play against teams qualifying from the other Preliminary Round group. The top four teams from each Second Round will qualify for the Quarterfinals, from which stage it will be a knockout.

FIBA Asia releases 2011 Events Calendar

Press Release: The complete FIBA Asia calendar of events for 2011 has been announced.

The calendar will tip off with the 22nd FIBA Asia Champions Cup, FIBA Asia’s premier event for club teams, to be hosted by Philippines at Manila from May 28 – June 5, 2011.

Philippines will host a FIBA Asia event after a gap of six years. The last FIBA Asia event hosted by Philippines was incidentally also the Champions Cup – the 16th edition of the event – in 2005.

Wuhan in China and Omura-Nagasaki in Japan have already been chosen to host the two marquee events of the calendar – the 26th FIBA Asia Championship (Sept 15-25, 2011) and the 24th FIBA Asia Championship for Women (Aug 21-28, 2011).

Ho Chi Minh City, the capital of South East Asian nation Vietnam will host the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship at a date to be decided. The event will mark the first time Vietnam will host a FIBA Asia event.

Urumqi in China has been chosen as the host for the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women, at a date to be decided. Among other important events, Urumqi had hosted the 2006 FIBA Asia U18 Championship.

The two FIBA Asia U16 events are qualifying events for the corresponding FIBA World U17 events to be held in 2012.

Lauding the host of each events, FIBA Asia president Sheikh Saud Ali Al-Thani said: “Hosting an event is charming, but the challenges that come up can be understood only by the hosts. I congratulate each of the host and the National Federations for coming forward to host the events.”

“From FIBA Asia side I assure all support. I hereby call upon all the prospective participants for each event to provide all the necessary support so that each event runs smoothly,” Sheikh Saud added.

“I also welcome Vietnam who are joining our list of hosts,” Sheikh Saud said.

“Last year we had Yemen joining the list of hosts. This year it is Vietnam,” said FIBA Asia Secretary General Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock.

“The quality of FIBA Asia events has seen a tremendous improvement in the last couple of years. I am confident we can not only continue but also improve our standards this year,” Dato Yeoh added.

“Organizing an event in new cities is always exciting. It provides a wonderful opportunity to widen the support base for our sport,” said FIBA Asia Deputy Secretary General Hagop Khajirian, also the Chairman of the FIBA Asia Committee for Marketing and Media.

“The fact that new cities are coming forward to host events is very encouraging. It means our sport is gaining in support from more people. I congratulate and look forward to working with all the host cities and National Federations,” Khajirian added.

The complete FIBA Asia 2011 calendar:

May 28 - June 5: 22nd FIBA Asia Champions Cup (Manila, Phillipines).
Aug 21 - 28: 24th FIBA Asia Championship for Women (Omura-Nagasaki, Japan).
Sep 15 - 25: 26th FIBA Asia Championship (Wuhan, China).
Dates TBC: 2nd FIBA Asia Championship (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam).
Dates TBC: 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women (Urumqi, China).