Friday, August 07, 2009

FIBA Asia Championship 2009 Key Facts

(Source: FIBA.com)

Official Name: FIBA Asia Championship 2009

Sponsors: FIBA Asia

Organizer: Local Organizing Committee (Tianjin) - FIBA Asia Championship 2009

Dates: From August 6 until 16, 2009
• First Round - 06/08 to 08/08
• Second Round – 10/08 to 12/08
• Quarter-finals – 14/08
• Semi-finals – 15/ 08
• Finals - 16/08

The teams who enter the finals and the winner of the play-offs between the losing semifinalists will qualify to the 2010 FIBA World Championship to be played in Turkey.

Venues: Tianjin Gym and Nankai University, Tianjin, China

Trophy: FIBA Asia Champion

Broadcasting: Each TV broadcast is established within the Schedule pages of FIBA Asia’s broadcasting associates.

Participating National Teams:
    * China (hosts)
    * Chinese Taipei
    * India
    * Indonesia
    * I. R. Iran (defending champions)
    * Japan
    * Jordan
    * Kazakhstan
    * Korea
    * Kuwait
    * Lebanon
    * Philippines
    * Qatar
    * Sri Lanka
    * United Arab Emirates
    * Uzbekista

Qualification system for participant teams

The number of participating teams is sixteen (16):

• Hosts China gain an automatic entry
• The Champion from the 2008 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup – Jordan also gain an automatic entry
• Top five finishers in the 2008 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup also earn an additional qualifying berth for their respective FIBA Asia sub-zone.
• Two team from each of the five FIBA Asia sub-zones qualify apart from the additional berths earned in the 2008 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup.

The following was the sub-zone wise break-up of the qualifiers

WABA: Iran, Jordan, Lebanon.
Gulf: Bahrain (withdrew later), Kuwait, Qatar, UAE.
Middle: India, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan.
East: China, Japan, Korea
South East: Indonesia, Philippines.

Note: Chinese Taipei were awarded a wild card entry following Bahrain’s withdrawal.

Competition System

The competition will be played in four rounds.

The sixteen (16) participating teams will be divided into four (4) groups of four (4) teams each. Each team will play all the other teams in its own group. The teams placed 1st – 3rd in each group will qualify for the Eighth Finals Round.

The twelve (12) teams qualified from the Preliminary Round will be divided into two (2) groups of six (6) teams each. Each team will play the three (3) new teams in its own group (the final scores of all games played in the Preliminary Round are valid for this round). The teams placed 1st - 4th in each group will qualify for the Quarter-Finals for 1st - 8th place.

From Quarter-Finals onwards, the competition will be play-offs.

The teams who enter the finals and the winner of the play-offs between the losing semifinalists will automatically qualify to the 2010 FIBA World Championship to be played in Turkey.