MIES (Switzerland) - All eyes shall be on Group B on Monday as three competitors will vie for the two remaining flight tickets en route to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers' Second Round.
Ten of the 12 slots have already been occupied and now, those qualified are waiting to see which among China, Chinese Taipei, and Korea will complete the cast for the next stage, which commences in August.
In fact, Monday's quadruple-header will begin with a duel between China and Chinese Taipei, which is basically a knockout match between the two rivals - and on neutral grounds, too, as they will play in Goyang, Korea.
And closing out the gameday would be a tiff between Korea and Japan in Goyang as well, which bears so much weight for the former as a win would keep their hopes of reaching Qatar very much alive.
Not to be forgotten, though, are the Group A games in between, with Australia, the Philippines, and New Zealand all looking to end their Window 3 campaigns with a bang to build momentum entering the next round.
New Zealand, for one, will try to net their fourth straight win when they host the winless Guam in Auckland in the second game of the day, before the Boomers shoot to go 6-0 against the Philippines in Perth.
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China have won all three of their previous games against Chinese Taipei in the World Cup Qualifiers, scoring more than 90 points in each of those fixtures. Chinese Taipei had an 11-point lead in their last matchup, but China were able to come back and win it by 100-93.
Chinese Taipei have won two of their last three games in the World Cup Qualifiers, after winning only one of their previous 14 in the competition; they beat Korea on the road this past Friday (82- 80) after being down by a 19-point differential.
Hu Jinqiu has scored 15+ points in each of his last four games in the World Cup Qualifiers, after doing it only once in his previous 10 appearances; China have won six of their eight games when Jinqiu Hu has been on the starting lineup.
Brandon Gilbeck is averaging 20.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per game in the World Cup Qualifiers; historically, only Gilbeck and Ra Gun-ah (26.7 points, 12.5 rebounds) have averages more than 20 points and more than 12 rebounds in the Asia region.
New Zealand have won 10 of their last 11 games at home in the World Cup Qualifiers and have scored 100 or more points in each of their last five home victories in the competition.
Guam are still looking for their first victory in the World Cup Qualifiers (L5) and come to this game after suffering the heaviest defeat by any Asian team in the competition (-72 v Australia); they are allowing 102.8 points per game across their last four fixtures.
Australia have won their three games against the Philippines in the World Cup Qualifiers, all by margins of 16 or more points, while keeping Gilas Pilipinas under 70 points scored in each of their previous encounters.
Australia are undefeated when playing at home in the World Cup Qualifiers, winning their 14 such games by an average margin of 32.4 points. Only the Boomers and France have played more than 12 games at home in the competition without being defeated.
The Philippines have lost their most recent three games in the World Cup Qualifiers, their longest losing run in the competition; they have allowed 90+ points in each of their last two Qualifiers games but are yet to endure a longer such sequence.
Australia have had a total of 44 different players scoring in double-figures across the three campaigns of the World Cup Qualifiers, at least nine more than any other team in the Asia region (Philippines, 35). Six different players scored 10+ points for Australia against Guam.
Korea are on a three-game losing streak, after winning 12 of their 14 previous games played in the World Cup Qualifiers; they have lost their most recent game at home (80-82 versus Chinese Taipei) but are yet to lose consecutive games on their own territory.
Japan have won nine of their last 11 games played away from their country in the World Cup Qualifiers, including the most recent four; the team leading at the half has won all 13 games Japan played away from home in the Qualifiers.
Yuta Watanabe has scored more than 12 points and has made at least a block in each of his seven games for Japan in the World Cup Qualifiers; Japan are undefeated in the World Cup Qualifiers when Watanabe has scored 15 or more points (W5).
FIBA