NONTHABURI (FIBA Asia Cup 2021) – Following the results of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Pre-Qualifiers Western Region, there are now only 4 seats left available for the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers. Those vacancies will be filled out at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Pre-Qualifiers Eastern Region which will be held in Thailand from November 26 to December 1.

Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Bahrain, and Sri Lanka were the four teams that qualified from the Western Region Qualifiers, bringing the total of qualified teams for the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers to up to 20 teams. They join the 16 teams who played at the 2017 edition of the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon.

Khalid Abdel Gabar led the way for undefeated Saudi Arabia, highlighted for a triple-double against Bahrain and averaged 14.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists throughout the tournament. Palestine’s Sani Sakakini was in a class of his own, leading the tournament with an efficiency rating of 37.8, a scoring average of 28.5, and 17.0 rebounds per game.

The four slots left will be wrestled out between the 7 nations participating at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Pre-Qualifiers Eastern Region: Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Macau, Fiji, and Guam.

Among the 7 teams, Malaysia has the most FIBA Asia Cup appearances for a total of 24 times. Thailand comes in at second with 19 showings, while Singapore and Indonesia both have 17. Macau has only played in the FIBA Asia Cup twice with the last time being in 1987. Should Fiji and Guam qualify, it will be their debut in the FIBA Asia Cup.

None of these teams played at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017.

FIBA