BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Australia, China, Korea, and New Zealand will carry the fight for Asia in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2027 in Czechia.
The perennial contenders will compose the continent's four-team envoy to the prestigious biennial meet after qualifying for the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2026 being held in Ahmedabad, India.
China were the first to reach the 'Final Four' by beating the Philippines, 117-103, to start off the Quarter-Finals Friday at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium, securing their third straight appearance to the U19 World Cup.
Korea then followed suit after blowing out Chinese Taipei, 107-79, marking their return to the showpiece after missing last year's edition as they got dethroned in the 2024 Asia Cup Quarter-Finals in Amman, Jordan.
The Oceania teams then went on to complete the ensemble, as New Zealand and Australia - the defending U18 Asia Cup champions - eliminated their respective opponents to close out the quadruple-header.
New Zealand took care of business against Japan, 94-58, giving themselves a chance to better their 4th-place finish in the 2025 U19 World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland - the country's best finish so far.
Australia became the fourth and final team bound for Pardubice following an easy 90-69 win over Iran, annexing their second straight, 16th stint overall in the tournament that began all the way back in 1979 in Brazil.
For now, the quartet's focus is on the U18 Asia Cup Semi-Finals set this Saturday, August 22.
Semi-Finals action begins at 16:30 local time featuring New Zealand and China, which will already be their third meeting in the said stage. The Junior Tall Blacks owned their first two meetings, including 2024.
Taking the court at the 19:30 main game would be Australia and Korea in a battle between the last two U18 Asia Cup champions. Before the Emus won the previous edition, Korea ruled the 2022 contest in Tehran.
Saturday will once again be a quadruple-header offering, with a pair of Classification 5-8 games opening the day. Japan and the Philippines will battle it out at 10:30, followed by the Iran-Chinese Taipei clash at 13:30.
All games will be streamed live via FIBA's official YouTube channel.
FIBA