JAKARTA (Indonesia) - It is said that the crowd can be an alternative sixth man for any team, especially when playing at home where the locals fans are packed to the full capacity. The roars of support can lift a team up, while also pressure the opposing side as well.

With Asia Cup 2021 being held in Jakarta this year, Indonesia are certainly banking on that support to give the team a boost once it’s time to play against the best of Asia & Oceania.

Here’s how the other Asia Cup hosts fared in the past recent years of the competition!

Lebanon (Asia Cup 2017)

This was the first time ever that Lebanon had hosted an Asia Cup and they were highly determined to make it a special one. The national team had a fun mix of experience and young, with the likes of Fadi El-Khatib and Wael Arakji lined up on the floor.

Lebanon took the court in their first game and rallied behind the support of their fans, who were watching their heroes in the Asia Cup in Beirut for the first time. They were able to take down long-time rivals Korea, led by a stellar performance from Wael Arakji.

In the end, Lebanon were not able to reach the Semi-Final and claim a medal from this competition as they had hoped, but they certainly made every game an exciting one for their fans. Their only losses came at the hands of New Zealand (Semi-Finalist) by 4 points, Iran (Finalist) by 10 points, and China (Asia Cup 2015 champions) which was a closely contested game that ended in a one point loss.

Another important note was the fans of Lebanon basketball were able to watch the living legend, Fadi El-Khatib, play for the national team right on their homecourt for one final time as he announced his retirement from national team competitions. The “Lebanese Tiger” scored 30 or more points in 4 of all 6 games, ending up as the tournament’s leading scorer at 25.9 points per contest.

China (Asia Cup 2015)

Asia Cup 2015 in Changsha was the sixth time that China has hosted the competition. Of all five previous editions where China had hosted the Asia Cup, they always ended up hoisting the trophy - save for 2009 when Iran won their second title.

In Changsha, China were determined to not let another team take the title from their home turf again.

The crowd certainly played a big part in boosting the players’ spirits in just their second game against Korea. China found themselves down by double digits in the first quarter, but were able to claw their way back and win 76-73.

From there, China continued their undefeated run, including big wins over Iran in the Semi-Finals and the Philippines in the title game.

It was another spectacular run for Yi Jianlian, who aside from winning his third Asia Cup also bagged his second Asia Cup MVP as well.

Philippines (Asia Cup 2013)

The Philippines had been slowly building up momentum over the years in the Asia Cup since their return in 2007. They had only hosted the Asia Cup once back in 1973 and had won it all in that year. Now that the Philippines were hosts once again, bringing Asia Cup basketball to Manila, there were high hopes that the trophy would end up theirs this year.

Despite the hyped up energy of being hosts, the Philippines fell early to a determined Chinese Taipei team in the first round.

However, the lost had seemed to wake them up as they built up steam leading to a Semi-Finals matchup against their archnemesis, Korea.

It ended up being a match to remember for a lifetime for the fans of Philippines basketball, especially those that were present in the Mall of Asia Arena. The two teams battled down to the wire, up until the sequence of Jimmy Alapag’s shot and Gabe Norwood’s block sealed the deal for the home team.

The victory by itself was monumental in the fact that it propelled the Philippines to their first ever Asia Cup Final and qualified them for their first FIBA Basketball World Cup appearance in nearly 40 years. Being able to beat their long-time rivals as well to make it happen was a delicious touch for the Philippines as well.

Most importantly, they were able to celebrate the win along with their massive amount of fans in the crowd including family and close friends.

FIBA