TEHRAN (Iran) - The race to the crown and qualification to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023 intensifies as the brackets for the FIBA U18 Asian Championship Quarter-Finals are now confirmed.

Following the draw held after the Group Phase's final game that saw Iran stun Japan Tuesday night, the top-seeded China will take on Qatar in the first game of the playoffs' opening round the next day at the Azadi Basketball Hall.

An 11-time winner of the Men's Asian U18 competitions, the young Team Dragon finished the preliminaries with a clean 2-0 slate following their masterful wins over India (105-65) in the opener and Korea (89-74) on Tuesday.

The Qataris, on the other hand, were able to get into the quarters following their 83-66 win over Syria. They finished the group stage with a 1-2 card.

The other bracket will see Chinese Taipei take on Japan, marking the former's return to the Quarter-Finals after missing so in the 2018 edition in Thailand.

They were the second-best team in Group C with a 2-1 record, with their lone loss dealt by the Philippines by way of an 84-73 decision.

That makes their match-up against Japan a battle between teams hungry to bounce back, as the latter absorbed a deflating 68-66 loss at the hands of the home team in a match that saw them blow a 28-point lead.

The Philippines, meanwhile, will take on Lebanon, with Gilas Youth entering the Quarter-Finals scorching hot with three consecutive wins.

Ultimately, Iran will take on Korea in yet another test for the hosts after that comeback of epic proportions they pulled off against Japan.

It would be a clash of teams raring to reach the Semi-Finals after bowing out of the quarters in 2018 The Iranians lost to eventual runners-up New Zealand, while the Koreans bowed to China, who later on won bronze.

FIBA