India qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup finals next year to be hosted by Jakarta, Indonesia in July 2022.
India’s prospects of qualifying for next year’s FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifying Tournament appeared bleak after an 80-61 loss to Saudi Arabia on Friday in Group H of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifying Tournament.
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They needed a win over Palestine on Saturday, as well as a favorable outcome in the following game between Saudi Arabia and Palestine on Sunday.
India and Saudi Arabia thus qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup finals and joined 13 teams — hosts Indonesia, Australia, Bahrain, China, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Philippines, and Syria — that have already qualified for the 16-team competition. The 16th team will be decided via a two-match series between Chinese Taipei and Guam.
🇮🇳 @BFI_basketball The come🔙 is completed 🔥🔥#FIBAAsiaCup
Follow LIVE 👇https://t.co/l6SSVaWNik pic.twitter.com/imHMGvSSY6
— FIBA Asia Cup (@FIBAAsiaCup) August 21, 2021
India placed third in Group D in the first round of qualifiers, behind Lebanon and Bahrain, and advanced to the second round. With the exception of 1993, India has qualified for every Asia Cup since 1976. Their best-ever finish in this tournament was fourth place in 1975.
The FIBA Asia Cup 2021, which is postponed to 2022, will be India’s 10 straight Asia Cup. That is their second-longest consecutive appearance, falling four short of their 14 consecutive appearances from 1965 to 1991.
The full list of 15 teams to have qualified for next year’s Asia Cup is as follows – Indonesia, Lebanon, Bahrain, Philippines, Korea, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, Syria, Jordan and Kazakhstan.
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