ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - Excitement is building up in and around the sprawling Mongolian capital as the highly awaited FIBA U16 Asia Cup is all set to roll the red carpet for the August 31-September 7 festivities.
This marks yet another international basketball event to be held in what's becoming a hoop-crazy nation but much of the anticipation, really, stems from the fact that this would be their first youth tourney in 13 years.
Yes, Mongolia are no strangers to organizing an age-group competition, having done so when they graciously hosted the FIBA U18 Asia Cup back in 2012 - a tournament that helped produce some of today's stars.
Then known as the 22nd FIBA Asia U18 Championship, the event was held at two different venues, one of which was the Buyant Ukhaa Sport Complex which would also serve as a battleground for this year's U16 tilt.
Emerging as champions were China, who beat fellow contenders Korea in the Final by way of a narrow 93-91 decision to annex the second title of a 'three-peat' - also the 10th of their competition record 11 championships.
Wang Zhelin starred in the victory with 30 points and 13 rebounds, spearheading an assault that also drew remarkable contributions from Gao Shang (28 points, 9 rebounds) and Dai Huaibo (18 points, 5 rebounds).
Wang would go on to bag home Most Valuable Player honors, bannering an All-Star Five that also had teammate Luo Hanchen, the Korean tandem of Lee Jong-hyun and Choi Jun-yong, and Iran's Vahid Dalirzahan.
Dalirzahan and the young Team Melli clinched the bronze medal following an 87-83 escape against Japan, with the men's team's future backcourt duo of Sajjad Mashayekhi and Behnam Yakchali taking the spotlight.
Mashayekhi top-scored for the crew with 26 points while Yakhchali fired 24, forming a 1-2 combo that proved too tough to contain even for an opposition led by eventual NBA player Yuta Watanabe and Yudai Baba.
But Watanabe himself was a problem for the Iranians, too, as he made 23 points and 8 rebounds with 3 assists and 3 steals. in over 39 minutes. Ditto with his fellow starter in Baba, who registered a 16-8-5 stat line.
China, Korea, and Iran went on to represent the continent in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2013, with Team Dragon finishing as the best Asian team by reaching the Quarter-Finals and ultimately ending up at seventh.
It wasn't just the aforementioned names, though, that went on to carve out solid careers.
Team China, for one, had Zhou Qi in the Ulaanbaatar games as their youngest at only 16. Korea, on the other hand, had Heo Hoon, who, four years after the U18 meet, became a mainstay of the senior program.
Also worth mentioning are guys like Vincent Kosasih and Juan Kokodiputra of Indonesia, Palpreet Singh Brar of India, and Syria's Anthouny Bakar - all of which have gone on to be part of their respective men's squads.
Not to be forgotten is the fact that the 2012 class also had one future FIBA Asia Cup MVP in Wael Arakji, making this particular U18 tournament truly one to remember given the amount of stars that it produced.
Thus, the excitement of most fans and observers as they believe that Ulaanbaatar will once again bear witness to the birth of soon-to-be big names in the 2025 U16 Asia Cup, which finally opens shop this Sunday.
FIBA