TAIPEI (Chinese Taipei) - Chou Yi Hsiang and the Chinese Taipei national team will be facing familiar foes at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers after being drawn to Group B. They will be joining East Asian nations, China and Japan, as well as Southeast Asia’s Malaysia.

The level of urgency is at a high for the Chinese Taipei as they prepare to head on to this next stage early next year.

“We competed with China and Japan last year, so I think we are under great pressure this time,” said Chou, as told to DongTW. “I competed with Malaysia when I was in high school, but there is too much uncertainty. We can’t underestimate them.”

At the recent FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, Chinese Taipei faced Japan twice. Taipei claimed a one-point win in their first game, but it was a crushing defeat in the second game on their own home court that knocked them out of World Cup qualification.

It was also Japan that dealt Chinese Taipei a devastating 38-point defeat in the previous edition of the FIBA Asia Cup back in 2017 as well.

They will be getting a shot at revenge on Japan in their very first window of the Asia Cup Qualifiers on February 24, 2020 in Japan. Chou Yi Hsiang will be extremely motivated for the Qualifiers to begin after going scoreless in his last game against his fierce rivals.

“They are fast and good at shooting,” the 28-year-old forward told DongTW. “They have some players that played in the NBA summer league this year. It will be a big challenge for us.”

Another big time matchup for Chinese Taipei during these Asia Cup Qualifiers will be against China with a visit on November 26 in 2020 before hosting the 16-time Asia Cup champions on February 22, 2021 in the final window. Chou will be anticipating both games as it will be an opportunity to go up against a familiar face.

“[I’m looking forward to play against] China and Abudushalamu,” Chou revealed to DongTW, referring to his fellow teammate with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). “Abuderexiti played great this season. He displayed his talents and was named the Most Improved Player of the Year, too.”

“China is strongest team in the group. We lost to them by a lot in Asian Games last year, but we all made progress after that. Let’s see what will happen.”

Despite their recent losses to China, counting Chinese Taipei out when the two teams encounter would be a mistake. The team went on a historic Asia Cup run back in 2013, claiming a come-from-behind upset win over China in the process. Chou was not on the team yet at that point, but recalls the joy of watching his fellow countrymen win.

“I was studying in the US at that time and watched the game live with my friends [from Chinese Taipei] cheering for the team. I felt so happy they won 4^th place at the FIBA Asia Cup.”

The path for Chou and the current Chinese Taipei national team to get back to that level might take some time to go through, but they are ready to put in the effort. Chou, who averaged 16.5 points in FIBA Asia Cup 2017, will have to step up and be a leader for this new wave.

“It’s so hard to beat [China]. We need to work hard. We have the opportunity to compete with the Japanese team, since we don’t have a height disadvantage.”

“Currently, Chinese Taipei are all new generation players. We need improve our chemistry.”

FIBA