BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers Draw concluded on June 8 in Bengaluru, India with all 24 teams being placed into their respective groups. Now that we get to see a clear picture of the path the teams must take to qualify for the Asia Cup in 2021, let’s take a quick glance at the match-ups that will be going on.

Here are 7 games that fans will not want to miss at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers!

Group A: Philippines vs Korea

When Gilas fans first saw that Korea were grouped with Philippines, their hearts probably skipped a beat. Aside from the tussle for dominance at the top of the Asia Cup between China and Iran over the past two decades, the back and forth between Korean and the Philippines is right up there as the most heated rivalries in Asia.

And they will be facing each other as early as in the stages of the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

The two teams have met each other 5 times in the Asia Cup over the past decade, usually with a lot on the line: Quarterfinals in 2017, semifinals in 2013, 3^rd place game in 2011, and twice in 2009. We’re not even counting the times they have met in the Asian Games either. Korea has had the upper hand with 4 wins, but those victories have rarely come easy.

Faithful fans of both nations won’t have to wait until 2021 for a rematch as the two teams will be playing each other twice just in this Qualifier stage.

Group A: Indonesia vs Thailand

That’s right. We’re still in Group A.

That’s because the basketball gods gifted us with not one, but two intense rivalries in the same group. It’s not as high-profiled as the Philippines vs Korea rivalry, but these two teams have certainly been in some competitive games over the past few years.

In the early 2010s, Thailand had their way over Indonesia with a crucial win at the Southeast Asian Games 2011 and winning the Gold Medal at the 2013 SEABA Championship, both on Indonesia soil. The tables have turned against Thailand in the recent years with 5 straight losses in major tournaments from the SEABA Championship in 2017, SEA Games 2017, Asia Cup 2021 SEABA Pre-Qualifiers, Asian Games 2018, to the Asia Cup 2021 East Region Pre-Qualifiers. Each loss added on to Thailand’s pain as all games were closely contested down to the finals minutes.

Either Thailand will be able to redeem themselves or Indonesia can pile on the torture.

Group B: China vs Japan

China are the perennial powerhouses of Asia. In Group B, they will be going up against Japan, arguably the hottest team in the region right now.

These two somehow avoided clashing at the World Cup Asian Qualifiers, to the disappointment of some hoping to watch the brightest stars in Asia go up against each other. Though there’s always the possibility of seeing the two teams against each other at the World Cup itself, it should be reassuring as a fan to know that they will surely be facing at the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Both teams have quite a supply of stars to lineup against each other and it will be exciting to see who gets the call for this epic showdown.

Group C: Australia vs New Zealand

The teams from Oceania found their way to the same group, but don’t expect their games to be friendly.

Australia are the defending Asia Cup champions, also beating New Zealand in the semi-finals in 2017.

The Boomers and the Tall Blacks combined for only 4 losses among themselves at the Asian Qualifiers.

Guam went through the East Region Pre-Qualifiers by sweeping the competition with an average difference of over 20 points per game.

This is going to be fun.

Group D: Bahrain vs Lebanon

Lebanon are one of the best teams in Asia, while Bahrain are aspiring to be on that level soon. They will now get an early chance to clash here at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers.

It will be a tall task for Bahrain to go up against Lebanon at this stage, but the team's recent advancements to improve their national team should make it an interesting match up. 

Group E: Iran vs Qatar

The match-ups against these two giants from the Western side of Asia early in the 2000s turned out to be pretty intense. From 2003 to 2011, Iran and Qatar faced each other a whopping 5 times.

During their peak back-to-back 3^rd place Asia Cup runs in 2003 and 2005, Qatar dealt crushing blows to Iran’s chances in each tournament. Since then, Iran has always held the advantage with 3 consecutive wins over the proud Gulf team.

The rivals also faced each other twice in the first round of the World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Though Iran collected the win both times, it took an overtime session for Team Melli to take down Qatar by 2 points on a last second play. Fans will get to see if the heat is still on when they face each other on their respective home courts at the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Group F: Palestine vs Jordan

Palestine have played in the FIBA Asia Cup only once in the entire history of the tournament but they surely made it count with a memorable run to finish at 10^th place in 2015.

In that run, they went up against a strong Jordan squad in the battle for 9th place. Jordan eventually won that match in the end 94-82, but they found out that Palestine weren't an easy team to beat just like a majority of the teams in that year's edition of the Asia Cup. In that game, Jordan got lofty production from Mohammad Hussein (26 points and 9 rebounds) and Zaid Abbas (16 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists) but Palestine were able to hang on as Sani Sakakini (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Jamal Abu Shamala (24 points, 9 rebounds) led the way.

Fun fact: Palestine also played against Kazakhstan twice at the FIBA Asia Cup 2015, winning one in overtime. They are both in the same group at the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

FIBA