Return of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers: All you need to know about Group B
CLARK CITY (Philippines) - There's going to be plenty of Group B basketball played in the remaining games of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers. Which teams will get the two direct qualification spots?
CLARK CITY (Philippines) - There’s still a lot of mystery in the air in Group B of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers, but that just means that there is much suspense left for the fans to follow. This is group that is jam-packed with some of the most successful teams in Asia Cup history, so make sure to tune in when they start to play.
Previously On…
There have been only a few games played in Group B of the Asia Cup Qualifiers, but it does give the fans a slight picture of how things might shape up.
Japan completely dominated Chinese Taipei in their matchup back in February 2020 and, in turn, Chinese Taipei pulverized Malaysia in their clash earlier.
Fans were entertained with some young rising talents (like Chen Ying Chun) or new faces in the national team pool (like Ryan Rossiter) in those early Qualifiers games and that’s what they’ll hope to be seeing in these upcoming contests as well.
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Chinese Taipei* | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.0 | 209 | 144 | 65 | 104.5 | 72 | 3 |
| 2 | Japan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 96 | 57 | 39 | 96 | 57 | 2 |
| 3 | Malaysia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 152 | -104 | 48 | 152 | 1 |
| 4 | China* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Coming Soon…
16-time Asia Cup champions China will quite a schedule to play in Clark City, Philippines where the remaining Qualifiers games will be played for this group. China will play Japan and Chinese Taipei in back-to-back games on June 16-17 and June 19-20. Again, the competition will be fierce in this group to seal the direct Asia Cup 2021 qualification spots, so China cannot slack off during this tough stretch.
Japan are in a solid position with 1 win and 0 losses so far, but their opening game in the Clark City bubble will be a tough one against China as mentioned above on June 16. They’ll get one day to rest before hopping back into action again with back-to-back games, including a rematch against China on the latter date.
It’s the game on June 18 which will be a chance for Chinese Taipei to get revenge on Japan for their earlier matchup in the Qualifiers. However, that will be the second of two consecutive games for Chinese Taipei so they will have to manage their roster properly.
End Game
It is anybody’s game here in Group B. There will be plenty of basketball to be played and many storylines to unravel, all of which will eventually result in two teams clinching the two direct qualification spots.
Two of these teams will rest assured that they will be playing in Asia Cup 2021 at the end of these Qualifiers game. Who will they be?
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