The 27th FIBA Asia Championships officially opened Wednesday night at the Dusit Hotel in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. All 15 teams were present when the games formally opened, along with the FIBA Asia officials. The championship games will be played in Manila from Aug 1-11, 2013 and will achieve record levels with the television coverage of the games reaching more than 70 countries.
The first games start on Friday, August 2st at 11am at the Mall of Asia Arena and the N Aquino Stadium in Manila, Philippines. Team Pilipinas will play Saudi Arabia, Japan will play Qatar, Iran will play Malaysia, Jordan will play Chinese-Taipei, China will play Korea, Kazakhstan will play Thailand, and India will play Bahrain.
From the Asian series, only three teams will qualify to play at the upcoming 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Madrid, Spain. That series will be played at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid from Aug 30-Sept 14, 2014. The best teams from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania will compete.
Here's the 2013 Team Pilipinas players:
About FIBA
Founded in 1932, FIBA is an international basketball league, and FIBA Asia is a league amongst 15 Asian countries. The acronym FIBA stands is French for "Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur". The word "Amateur", however, was dropped in 1986 after the distinction between amateurs and professionals was eliminated. For more details about FIBA Asia, visit www.FIBAasia.net
