Bahrain to take on Asian giants in final round of World Cup qualifying

TDT | Manama                                                 

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain will have to face three of the biggest teams in Asia after advancing to the second and final round of continental qualification for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. The nationals scraped past the preliminary stage after back-to-back wins over Syria and Kazakhstan in their last two games of six—defying the odds to be one of just 12 teams still with a chance of booking a berth in next year’s global showcase.

But now the Bahrainis will have to lock horns with the powerhouse national teams of Australia, China and Japan in Group F of this next qualifying phase. Kazakhstan and Iran are the other countries in their division but they will no longer be facing off in this round, as all results from the previous stage are being carried over.

Bahrain thus have just six more games to play to decide their World Cup qualification. They will be held between August of this year and February of next year. The Bahrainis first take on the Aussies at home on August 25, before travelling to China to play the hosts on August 29.

They then host Japan on November 11 before also taking on China in the Kingdom on November 14. The nationals then travel to Australia for their game on February 23, before playing Japan on February 26. The 12 remaining teams in qualifying have been divided into two groups for this round.

Group E features New Zealand, Lebanon, Jordan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and India. The top three teams from each group, along with hosts Japan and the Philippines, will qualify for the World Cup. However, if host Indonesia manages to qualify by virtue of making through the quarterfinals of this year’s 2022 FIBA Asia Cup, only the top two teams from each group, along with the best third-place team will qualify.

Meanwhile, Bahrain will next week compete in the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 in Indonesia, starting yesterday next week. The Bahrainis are in Group B for the tournament’s preliminary round along with continental powerhouses China, South Korea and Chinese-Taipei.

There are 16 countries in all participating in this year’s FIBA Asia Cup, which was postponed from its original slot last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The other groups in the preliminary round feature Saudi Arabia, Jordan, defending champions Australia and hosts Indonesia in Group A; Iran, Japan, Kazakhstsan and Syria in Group C; and India, Lebanon, the Philippines and New Zealand in Group D.