BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The inaugural FIBA Asia Champions Cup was held in 1981 at the Queen Elizabeth stadium in Hong Kong, the start of a competition rich with history between the clubs of Asia. Proud Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) powerhouse, Bayi Rockets, claimed the first ever FIBA Asia Champions Cup title that year.

The prestigious Asian club competition has since then been regularly organized over the years, pitting some of the best teams across the region against each other in enticing and intriguing match-ups. Pairings between a storied club like Sagesse of Lebanon and the Liaoning Hunters (now Liaoning Flying Leopards) of China were able to happen in the setting of the Asia Champions Cup, as it did in the title game of the 1999 edition of the competition.

The first two decades of the Asia Champions Cup were dominated by clubs from the Philippines and China. Four clubs from the Southeast Asian powerhouse nation were able to secure Asia Champions Cup titles from Northern Cement (1984), Swift-PABL (1988), Andok’s (1995), to Hapee Toothpaste (1996).

The "Cavity fighters" - 1996 Champions

Chinese clubs had their impressive runs of success in that early era as well, especially the aforementioned Liaoning squad who won it all in 1990 and had 3 other occasions finishing as runners-up. Beijing Hanwei then won the Asia Champions Cup title in 1998, but it would be nearly two more decades before any club from China would win another title.

The early 2000s were then dominated by clubs from the West side of Asia.

Sagesse became the first club ever to win back-to-back titles (1999, 2000) before going on to win their 3^rd title over 7 years in 2004. The proud Lebanese team currently has the most number of FIBA Asia Champions Cup trophies as an individual club.

Giants of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Al-Rayyan and Al-Ittihad, clashed for one of the fiercest rivalries of the time, playing each other in both the 2001 and 2002 championship game while splitting the results. Al-Ittihad actually made it to three straight title games from 2000 to 2002. Meanwhile, Al-Rayyan finished in the top 3 of the final standings in 9 of the 10 Asia Champions Cup during the 2000s, highlighted by 2 championship wins in 2002 and 2005.

Jordan's Zain Basketball Club also joined in on list of Asia Champions Cup winners in the 2006 edition of the competition held in Kuwait.

(Petrochimi, FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2018)

Iran’s rise in Asian basketball also impacted the Asia champions Cup with their representative clubs taking over from 2007 onwards. Petrochimi’s recent win in 2018 brought the total number of Asia Champions Cup titles won by a representative club from Iran to 6, leading all nations in Asia.

The FIBA Asia Champions Cup will be held once again this year in Thailand, as always with the stakes of being crowned the best club of Asia on the line. The 8 clubs competing for the title are hosts Hitech Bangkok City (THA), Naft Abadan (IRI), Muharraq (BHR), Fubon Braves (TPE), Guangdong Southern Tigers (CHN), Alvark Tokyo (JPN), Hyundai Mobis (KOR), and Al-Riyadi (LBN).

Moreover, the winners of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup this year – as the best club in Asia – will advance to play at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2020 where they'll go head-to-head with the other continental champions.

FIBA