DAMASCUS (Syria) - Following a loss to Iran in their opening game of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers, Syria managed a tough overtime road victory over Saudi Arabia, 75-70.

The win keeps Syria’s hopes of directly qualifying out of Group E for the Asia Cup 2021 alive and strong. The group also includes Qatar, who Syria will still have to face twice in the upcoming windows. To continue towards the path of direct qualification - which is to finish as the top two teams in their respective group - Syria have already started to prepare for the upcoming games.

The “Qasioun Eagles” will commence their training camp on October 18 with some of their top players confirmed to be in attendance. From Wael Jlilaty, Jameel Sdair, Rami Merjaneh, Abdulwahab Al Hamwi, Omar Sheikh Ali, among others, Syria are not holding back heading forward in this qualification phase.

Currently, the team will be led in the training camp by assistant coach Azzam Al-Hussein as they wait for their newly appointed head coach to arrive in the country in which a formal announcement will later be made.

Jlilaty, in particular, has confirmed his readiness for the upcoming games. Moreover, he highlighted the positive atmosphere within Syrian basketball, assuring that they have the ability, both collectively and individually, to win despite the level of difficulty that their future opponents will impose. Nonetheless, the idea of having a mix of experience and youthful players is a positive sign as per Jlilaty.

30-year-old Jlilaty recently joined Al Ittihad Aleppo, crossing over from rivals Al Jalaa, in domestic competition. Jlilaty is currently the national team’s top scorer in the qualifiers, averaging 12.0 points to go with 4.5 rebounds per game.

Jlilaty is joined by Jameel Sadir at Aleppo, a solid inside presence who is looking forward for the opportunity to represent the country. Sadir expressed that he is hopeful from the strength of the teams in the domestic league, looking forward to see that contribute to the development of the Syria national team in the future.

“We will be facing teams that have demonstrated great development recently and we must work hard to avoid making mistakes we have made previously to build  on the positive things that will enhance our chances of success,” Sadir said.

Sadir was also bold in conclusion in ensuring that direction qualification from Group E is the team’s ultimate goal in the upcoming stages.

From the 24 teams participating in the Asia Cup Qualifiers, only 16 will advance to play in the Asia Cup in 2021. The top two teams in the standings from each group at the end of the three windows of the Qualifiers will earn direct qualification to the Asia Cup, resulting in 12 of the 18 teams.

The final four teams to qualify will come from a separate tournament of six teams which are the third-placed teams in each respective group. The fourth-placed team in each group are therefore eliminated from contention.

FIBA