Jordan opens FIBA Asia Cup against India
A host and China in Round 1 group matches of the Asian competition.
A total of 16 teams are playing at the August 5-17 in four groups: Group A: Qatar, Australia, South Korea, Lebanon; Group B: Guam, Japan, Syria, Iran; Group D: Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Iraq, the Philippines.
Group winners will move to the quarters while the second and third teams will play qualification matches to advance.
It will be Jordan's 17th time at the FIBA Asia Cup. Previously, Jordan was on the medals podium twice finishing runner-up in 2011 and 3rd in 2009. At the last 2022 edition Jordan finished 4th.
The event has been dominated by China who won the title 19 times, Philippines 5, Iran 3, South Korea, Japan and Australia twice each. Jordan's Zeid Alkhas and naturalized Rasheim Wright are on the list of highest scoring averages in the tournament while Lebanon's Fadi Khatib and Iran's Hamed Haddadi lead the all-time top scorers, with Wright 7th.
Jordan, the 2023 Asian Games silver medalist and three-time qualifier to the World Cup, 2010, 2019 and 2023, is now 35th in FIBA rankings, 8th in Asia and the 2nd best Arab team.
After much delays in handing over the team to incoming Canadian coach Roy Rana, challenges were coupled with the short time to regroup and prepare while grappling with a team revamp at a critical time with many players aging, uncommitted or not being in top form.
The current roster has the pressure of trying to keep up Jordan's impressive Asian record at the FIBA Asia Cup to which they advanced with an unbeaten record. However, the make-up of the Jordan lineup leaves much to debate after they played at the Beirut Tournament losing to Lebanon, Egypt and Iran. Stars like Ahmad Duweiri and Ronday Jefferson are missing the lineup and it remains to be seen if the ambitious yet relatively less experienced younger players with less competitive experience can muster enough harmony and exhibit their competitive readiness to attain an advanced position.
Following the FIBA Asia Cup, Jordan will play the Asian qualifiers for the FIBA World Cup where 16 teams will play in four groups in in 6 windows from November 2025 to March 2027. 7 of the 16 Asian sides will advance to the 2027 World Cup slated for Doha, Qatar which will have 32 teams competing for the title.
Jordan was drawn in Group C alongside Iran, Syria and Iraq in the first round of qualifiers. Group A includes Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and Guam; Group B Japan China Korea and Chinese Taipei; Group D Lebanon Saudi Arabia, India and Qatar.
The Kingdom hopes to qualify to the World Cup for the third consecutive and fourth overall time after first qualifying in 2010.
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