BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The FIBA Regional Office-Asia has confirmed the participating teams and groupings for Round 1 of the Basketball Champions League (BCL) Asia Qualifiers.

Eight clubs consisting of champions and runners-up of domestic leagues from East and South East Asia will compete in the April 3-7 tilt to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Teams in Round 1 are divided into two groups of four according to their National Teams’ ranking in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by NIKE.

Group A: Prawira Harum Bandung (INA), NS Matrix Deers (MAS), Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team (HKG), and the Mongolian “The League” season 2023/2024 runners-up.

Group B: Hi-Tech Basketball Club (THA), Adroit Club (SGP), Pelita Jaya Basketball (INA), and the winner of the 2023/2024 Mongolian “The League season.

The inaugural BCL Asia Qualifiers will tip-off on 3 April, with NS Matrix Deers taking on Hong Kong Eastern at 12:30 local time in the UG Arena.

The top teams from each group will advance to Round 2, while teams finishing second and third in each group will go head-to-head to determine the remaining two spots for Round 2. Teams advancing to Round 2 will not carry their Round 1 records.

Round 2, to be held in Jakarta from April 23-26, will be played in a single-round robin format, and the top two clubs will qualify for the BCL Asia.

Formerly known as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, the BCL Asia will make its debut this year featuring the continent’s top eight clubs.

The qualifiers in Mongolia and Indonesia will serve as a platform for two clubs to qualify for the BCL Asia, the continent’s top tier club competition.

There, they will join the champion teams from Japan (B.League), Korea (Korean Basketball League), China (CBA League), the Philippines (Philippine Basketball Association), in addition to two clubs from FIBA West Asia Super League.

FIBA