CHANGSHA-HUNAN (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - China are banking on home-court advantage and a tall frontline to help them knock Iran off the throne at the FIBA Asia Championship.

The tournament tips off on Wednesday in China and Iran enter the competition as favorites, with three titles in the four editions of the event dating back to 2007.

The winner will clinch a place in the Rio de Janeiro Games, while the sides that finish second, third and fourth will book places in FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

China were once the dominant side in the region, winning 13 of 15 FIBA Asia Championships from 1975 to 2003.

The only time China has won since was 2011.

At that tournament, Jordan upset Iran in the Quarter-Finals and nearly beat the Chinese in the title game.

A player that has been in the China senior team since the 2004 Olympics, the 2.13m power forward Yi Jianlian, figures to have a prominent role in Changsha-Hunan.

Yi was not at his best a couple of years ago because of injuries but his athleticism and experience will be important factors for a team that also has skyscrapers in 21-year-old Wang Zhelin (2.14m), 23-year-old Li Muhao (2.18m) and 19-year-old Zhou Qi (2.17m).

Others with experience are Chinese veterans Liu Wei, Guo Ailun and Zhou Peng.

Gong Luming, the coach of China, knows that Iran will be formidable.

The Iranians' new coach, former Germany and Poland boss Dirk Bauermann, inherited a lot of talent and experience.

An Iran squad that features giant center Hamed Haddadi, point guard Mahdi Kamrany, small forwards Samad Nikkhah Bahrami and Oshin Sahakian - all players with a lot of national team games under their belts - should also get a major contribution from promising youngster Behnam Yakhchali.

"The mindset for us is always the gold medal and qualifying directly for the Olympics," Sahakian said in an interview with FIBA.com.

"After our close loss to Korea in Asian Games in Incheon [in 2014], we still think we have some unfinished business we need to take care of.

"Another thing that motivates us is that this may be our last dance, our last chance to play together with the teammates I grew up and played with the past 20 years.

"So all these reasons keep us motivated for the upcoming Asian Championship."

All of the players competed at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup in the toughest of pools, Group A in Granada.

If Bauermann has taken over from Memi Becirovic in Iran, Tab Baldwin has assumed the command of the Philippines, with Chot Reyes having led them at last year's World Cup.

Andray Blatche was among the best players in Group B at last year's tournament in Spain and he will be surrounded by the likes of Ranidel de Ocampo, Marc Pingris, Asi Taulava, Jayson William, Gabe Norwood and Terrence Romeo.

"From Day One, I've believed in this group of players,” Baldwin said just over a week ago.

This is not to say, however, that there have not been frustrations in the build-up to China.

"This team is a very, very new," Baldwin said.

"(It's a) Very, very young team, not because of age and experience, but in terms of time together and training opportunities.

"You can't expect to have all the cohesion in the world and expect to have fluid basketball when that’s the case."

Lebanon had been hoping to have Fadi El Khatib but the veteran has taken the decision to retire from international basketball.

The side led by coach Veselin Matic will nevertheless enter the tournament as a combative squad intent on proving they can win with El Khatib.

All fans in Lebanon need do is look at what happened in another region of international basketball, the Americas, to see how a team can rally and achieve great things despite absent stars.

Venezuela, with no NBA players, fought their way to the title at the FIBA Americas Champioship earlier this month, upsetting Canada in the Semi-Finals to clinchg a spot in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and then beating Argentina to win the title.

If history is any indication, Korea's chances cannot be discounted.

The country, which is being coached by Kim Dong Kwang this summer, has been a regular on the podium since the second edition of the FIBA Asia Championship back in 1963.

In every one played after 1963, Korea have made it to the podium, save 2009 when
Iran, China and Jordan finished first, second and third.

Korea also played at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup.

There are plenty of intriguing storylines at the start of this FIBA Asia Championship.

One is the presence of Palestine for the very first time and much of that is owed to the leadership of Sani Sakakini.

A 26-year-old center, his statistics at the WABA Championship, where Palestine finished third behind Lebanon and Jordan to clinch a spot in the FIBA Asia Championship, were jaw-dropping.

In the 70-62 win over the Iraqis on the last day that clinched third place for Palestine, Sakakini had 35 points and 21 rebounds.

In the Palestinians' other victory over Syria on Day 2, Sakakini poured in 39 points and corralled 17 rebounds.

He had huge numbers against WABA winners Lebanon and second-place Jordan, too.

Palestine for years used to just go and play games and lose by 40 points but now, it's different - Sani Sakakini

Palestine should be a better team than at WABA as well.

One reason is that Sakakini's brother, Saleem, did not play at the WABA because he just got married but he is now with the team.

Here are the teams and the groups for the FIBA Asia Championship, which runs from 23 September to 3 October.

Group A: Iran, Japan, Malaysia and India.
Group B: Philippines, Palestine, Kuwait and Hong Kong.
Group C: Korea, Jordan, Singapore and China.
Group D: Chinese Taipei, Lebanon, Qatar and Kazakhstan.

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