BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The FIBA Regional Office-Asia on Friday, December 12, has confirmed that Thailand and Malaysia will split hosting duties of the highly anticipated FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup next year.
Malaysia will host the Division A competitions while Division B is set to be played in Thailand as the 27th edition of the biennial competition, to be held in September, is coming to Southeast Asia for the first time in 10 years.
The last time that the tournament was held in the region was in 2016 in Bangkok, which saw China win the fourth of a rare 'five-peat' by beating long-time rivals Japan in the Final by way of a lopsided 78-47 result.
Next year, Thailand will host the second division for the first time, where the participating teams - which will be confirmed at a later date - will vie for promotion to Division A for the following edition in 2028.
Malaysia, on the other hand, will be welcoming the U18 Women's Asia Cup after 13 years. The country last hosted the event in 2012 in Johor Bahru, in which China won the second of five consecutive championships.
This marks the second straight year that Malaysia will play host to a FIBA youth event after the successful staging of the U16 Women's Asia Cup in Seremban last October, where Australia completed a historic 'four-peat.'
Australia are coming into the 2026 U18 Women's Asia Cup looking to win the gold medal for the third time in a row after completing the back-to-back in the 2024 tilt in Shenzhen after beating China in the Final, 96-79.
Last year's contest, which saw the rise of several stars most notably Chinese wunderkind and eventual MVP Zhang Ziyu, concluded with major success after garnering massive numbers, especially on live streaming.
Combining the figures of Divisions A and B altogether, the 26th edition of the tourney drew a total of 20.6 million live views, collated from FIBA's official YouTube page and Chinese social media platforms.
FIBA