BEIRUT (2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship) - In an ideal world, Rebecca Akl would be pulling on a Lebanon vest at the FIBA Asia Women's Championship in pursuit of a landmark place in the top four.

However, Lebanon will have a different task in mind when they take to the floor in Wuhan, China later this year (29 August-5 September).

We must prove we deserve to have our spot back among the top nations, a place we earned in our past two championships [2009, 2011]. - Akl

Rather than trying to improve on their impressive fifth-place achieved in their last appearance four years ago, they must instead focus on getting themselves out of the second tier and back into the top flight of teams in time for the 2017 edition.

"To do this would be a huge step for Lebanese women's basketball.

"It also is an incentive that will act as a push for every player to work hard and to be part of the achievement that we must complete."

The additional lure of getting back with the top teams would be that Lebanon could well find themselves playing against the likes of Australia in the future - as well as traditional powerhouses such as China, Japan and Korea.

"It would be amazing in terms of exposure," said Akl.

"But it would also be extremely challenging, since all the nations are more experienced than us and are very tough to compete against."

Akl has already played at two previous FIBA Asia Women's Championship events, including a debut as a teenager six years ago in Chennai, India when she got her first experience of promotion to the elite level as Lebanon won five of their six games.

"It meant a lot to represent my country at such a young age," she stated.

"It was a very challenging and enriching experience since I was one of the youngest players with the national team and in the entire championship.

"On a team level, the best memory was the moment we qualified to Level I and on a personal level, I enjoyed scoring 16 points in our game against Sri Lanka."

Akl and her team-mates then went on to record a ground-breaking top five finish when they played in Japan two years later and it's a tournament that the 22-year-old remembers with particular fondness.

"The best memory for me was that we secured the fifth place in Level I [by beating India] and then beat Kazakhstan to retain our place in the top division."

"It was a great feeling since we practiced hard, prepared really well and fought until the very last minute."

Being a young player in the national team has meant Akl needing to learn quickly and she could barely have had a better mentor as she adjusted to the senior team than the highly respected Chada Nasr.

And even when Lebanon were serving their suspension from the international game, she continued to benefit after Nasr made a move to Al Riyadi where she linked up with Akl.

"I learned a lot by playing with Chada and especially as she is a current teammate," said the Zalka native.

"Her leadership and experience have played a major role in getting the Lebanese national team to compete in the top level previously."

Now the pair have some serious work to do as they look to lift Lebanon back to prominence when the action gets underway in late August.

FIBA