MIES (Switzerland) - One year ago today at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in Beijing, China and Poland engaged in an enthralling battle that wasn’t decided until after overtime.

The riveting contest, won 79-76 by Poland, was the most watched sports program for the entire year on Chinese television. 

An astonishing 70 million viewers witnessed one of the most exciting games of the World Cup, with more than 20.5 million viewers watching the showdown live on CCTV-5 on September 2 and another 50.4 million watched the game live online on Tencent, via their OTT platform. The total digital views for this game, live and video on demand, topped a staggering 105 million. 

A mere four days later, the battle between local rivals China and Korea captivated a massive local audience, with that game being the third most watched sports program in China for 2019. In fact, the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 claimed four spots of the top 10 best watched sports events for 2019 on CCTV. 

It was but one of 92 pulsating encounters at the 18th World Cup - the biggest stage of international basketball. The first-ever 32 team edition was a huge success as fans flocked to arenas in eight Chinese cities to watch one thrilling meeting after another.

Nine days after the Polish triumph over China, pre-tournament favorites USA had their bid for a third straight world title dashed in the Quarter-Finals by France, who went on to finish third.

Spain, after an incredible double-overtime victory against Australia in their Semi-Final, ended a dream run by Argentina in the championship game and captured the second world title in their history with their point guard, Ricky Rubio, named as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Spain's Marc Gasol, Argentina's Luis Scola, France's Evan Fournier and Serbia Bogdan Bogdanovic joined Rubio in the World Cup's All-Star Five.

FIBA