ARG - 2011 FIBA Americas Championship draw today

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (2011 FIBA Americas Championship) - The draw for the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship takes place in Mar del Plata at 12noon local time (16:00 CET) today, promising two extremely tough groups for the first round.

The Championship, to be played from 30th August until 11th September, sees the top two teams qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London, while the teams finishing third, fourth and fifth earn the right to play in the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The 10 participating countries will be divided into two groups of five, with pairings having been set up in order ensure a degree of balance between groups.

The pairings for this draw are:

Puerto Rico-Canada
Uruguay-Dominican Republic
Venezuela-Panama
Cuba-Paraguay
Argentina-Brazil

The first team selected randomly from each pairing in the draw goes to group A and the second to Group B.

The 2009 edition of the tournament was won by Brazil, who beat hosts Puerto Rico in the final, with Argentina overcoming Canada to take bronze.

Check FIBA's Facebook page for the results of the draw or follow minute by minute coverage on FIBA's twitter page.