SEREMBAN (Malaysia) - Homecourt advantage is definitely something that Malaysia would want to maximize as they compete with seven other teams in Division B of the FIBA U16 Women's Asia Cup 2025.
The biennial meet's upcoming edition will be held at the Arena Seremban, bringing excitement not only to this city but to the whole country, too, as it marks the return of a FIBA youth event here after 13 long years.
In case you're wondering, the last time that the Malaysians hosted as much was in 2012, when the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup was held at the Stadium Bandaraya in Johor Bahru where China went on to win.
Now, the comeback of sorts will begin with the second division, in which the home team are among the more anticipated teams as they're coming in armed with so much motivation after what happened in 2023.
Teams playing Division B are vying for Division A promotion for the following U16 Women's Asia Cup tournament and the young Harimau moved a win away from doing so during the event in Amman, Jordan.
Unfortunately, the Philippines threw a monkey wrench on their plans, dominating in a Semi-Final duel between SEABA rivals as the Gilas Girls eventually booked the ticket en route to the top-flight division for 2025.
Malaysia, though, would settle for a bronze-medal finish. But it offered hardly any consolation as they fell short of the ultimate goal, and the present batch would surely want to improve on what their predecessors did.
But it's not just the hosts that are hungry to succeed.
There are actually three teams from 2023 coming back for this year's tilt. Among them are Iran, which were actually a win away from getting promoted only to lose to the Philippines in the Final, 83-60.
Then there are also Hong Kong, China, whom Team Malaysia beat by way of a 52-46 decision to bag home the bronze - a result that foiled the former's bid of returning to Division A for the second successive time.
No doubt that these three are among the favorites in this year's Division B contest but their journey to the title won't be easy, given that there are five other teams eager to make their own cases as well.
Samoa, for one, impose a huge threat after getting relegated from the 2023 games, hoping to pull off another magical run like what they did in Division B back in 2022 - capped by a 79-76 win over Syria in the Final.
It's a tad similar to the story of India, who will once again try to go back to Division A after their 2022 campaign in the said level ended up in utter disappointment as they finished dead-last with a winless slate.
Not to be forgotten are Indonesia, as well as newcomers Tonga and Uzbekistan as the two nations are hoping to make a mark in their tournament debut.
The FIBA U16 Women's Asia Cup 2025-Division B will run from September 13-19. To see the complete schedule, click here.
FIBA