FIBA Asia Cup

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FIBA Asia Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualification
FormerlyFIBA Asia Championship
ABC Championship
SportBasketball
Founded1960; 64 years ago (1960)
First season1960
No. of teams16
CountryAsia and Oceania
Continent
Most recent
champion(s)
 Australia (2nd title)
Most titles China (16 titles)
Related
competitions
FIBA Women's Asia Cup
Official websiteFIBA Asia

The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania.

Through the 2015 edition, the tournament took place every two years and was also a qualifying tournament for the FIBA World Cup and the Olympic basketball tournament. However, since 2017, the tournament was renamed the FIBA Asia Cup and now includes teams from FIBA Oceania. Also, it was the first to be played on a new four-year cycle, and is no longer a part of the qualifying process for the World Cup or the Olympics.[1][2]

History[edit]

Beginnings: Philippines/Japan dominance[edit]

The Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship was inaugurated in Manila in 1960. The championship was held to find Asia's best team and for qualification to the World Championship and the Olympics. On the next four tournaments, the Philippines won 3 with the Japanese beating the Filipinos in 1965. Korea, Japan and the Philippines split the next 3 championships until China debuted in 1975 at Bangkok with the championship, where they have dominated for 40 years.

Chinese dominance[edit]

Right after the Philippines had started sending amateur players when the Philippine Basketball Association was established in 1975 as the first professional basketball league in Asia and therefore not allowed to lend the country's best players,[citation needed] China emerged as the new dominant country in Asian basketball.

From 1975 to 2007, there were only two instances where China did not win the championship. In 1985, the Philippines defeated a full-strength Chinese team, which were by then five-time defending champions, in the championship round. The Chinese then won every game in the championship until 1997, where they to lost to South Korea in the semi-finals where they complained about the climate in Riyadh.[citation needed] The Koreans beat the Japanese in the final, but the Chinese would then start a championship streak of four tournaments, led by Yao Ming.

Renaming[edit]

By 2005, the tournament had been renamed as the FIBA Asia Championship; in that year's tournament in Doha, the Chinese easily won against the Lebanese in the final. During the 2007 championship, the Chinese did not send their "A" team since they had already qualified to the Olympics by virtue of hosting it. In this championship, West Asian teams started to compete with the traditional East Asian powers, as evidenced of an all-West Asian final when Iran defeated Lebanon. In 2009, Iran defeated the Chinese team A in the 2009 final to become only the 3rd team to successfully defend the championship. The 2009 championship started a streak of finals contested between a team from the Middle East and a team from the Far East; in 2011, Iran was eliminated by Jordan in the quarterfinals, which would then lose to hosts China by one point in the final. The 2013 championship would be the first to be hosted outside East Asia since 2005 in the Philippines, the hosts, emerged as finalists; China had been eliminated by Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals, which were then defeated by the Iranians, who then beat the Filipinos in the Final.

Removal of qualification status[edit]

As FIBA implemented a new cycle and tournament format, the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship held in Manila and the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship held in Changsha were the last Asian Championships to serve as qualification to either the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Olympic Games, respectively. The 2017 FIBA Asia Championship marked firsts and lasts for the Asian Championship, as it was the first Asian Championship as a standalone tournament, meaning it did not serve as the qualifier for either the Basketball World Cup or the Olympic Games. The 2017 tournament was the last Asian Championships to be ever held under a 2-year cycle. After 2017, the Asian Championships and the FIBA Oceania Championship merged into a tournament to be known as the FIBA Asia Cup. It was held every 4 years like the EuroBasket, AfroBasket and AmeriCup, which are held 2 years before/after the FIBA World Cup.

Qualification[edit]

Qualification is via the different FIBA Asia subzones. The East, Gulf, Southeast and West subzones receive two berths each, while the Central and South zones get one each. The host and the champion from the preceding FIBA Asia Cup also get a berth each. Each subzone conducts a qualification tournament up to a year before the championship to determine the qualifying teams. The other four berths are distributed to the subzones in reference to their performance in the previous year's FIBA Asia Cup, with the subzone receiving an extra berth for each team in the top four excluding the champion and the host.

Tournament format[edit]

There had been a variety of tournament formats used before. Most were similar to the format of two group stages and a knockout stage. The current format, as first applied in 2017, is a multistage tournament. The 16 teams are grouped in four groups in the preliminary round. The teams play against each other once; the top team will directly advance to the quarterfinals, and the second placed teams will play an elimination game between the third placed team of another group. The four winning teams of the elimination games will advance to the quarterfinals. After the elimination games, the knock-out phase will follow.

The classification games will be conducted as follows:

  1. 13–16th place games are for the teams eliminated from the group phase.
  2. The 9th to 12th place games are for the losing teams of the elimination games.
  3. The 5–8th place games are for the eliminated teams in the quarterfinals.

Summary[edit]

Year Host Final Third place Game
Champion Score Second place Third place Score Fourth place
1960
Details
Philippines
Manila

Philippines
No playoffs
Republic of China

Japan
No playoffs
South Korea
1963
Details
Taiwan
Taipei

Philippines
91–77
Republic of China

South Korea
No playoffs
Thailand
1965
Details
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur

Japan
No playoffs
Philippines

South Korea
No playoffs
Thailand
1967
Details
South Korea
Seoul

Philippines
No playoffs
South Korea

Japan
No playoffs
Indonesia
1969
Details
Thailand
Bangkok

South Korea
No playoffs
Japan

Philippines
No playoffs
Republic of China
1971
Details
Japan
Tokyo

Japan
No playoffs
Philippines

South Korea
No playoffs
Republic of China
1973
Details
Philippines
Manila

Philippines
No playoffs
South Korea

Republic of China
No playoffs
Japan
1975
Details
Thailand
Bangkok

China
No playoffs
Japan

South Korea
No playoffs
India
1977
Details
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur

China
No playoffs
South Korea

Japan
No playoffs
Malaysia
1979
Details
Japan
Nagoya

China
No playoffs
Japan

South Korea
No playoffs
Philippines
1981
Details
India
Kolkata

China
No playoffs
South Korea

Japan
No playoffs
Philippines
1983
Details
Hong Kong
Hong Kong

China
95–71
Japan

South Korea
83–60
Kuwait
1985
Details
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur

Philippines
No playoffs
South Korea

China
No playoffs
Malaysia
1987
Details
Thailand
Bangkok

China
86–79
OT

South Korea

Japan
89–75
Philippines
1989
Details
China
Beijing

China
102–72
South Korea

Chinese Taipei
69–58
Japan
1991
Details
Japan
Kobe

China
104–88
South Korea

Japan
63–60
Chinese Taipei
1993
Details
Indonesia
Jakarta

China
93–72
North Korea

South Korea
86–70
Iran
1995
Details
South Korea
Seoul

China
87–78
South Korea

Japan
69–63
Chinese Taipei
1997
Details
Saudi Arabia
Riyadh

South Korea
78–76
Japan

China
94–68
Saudi Arabia
1999
Details
Japan
Fukuoka

China
63–45
South Korea

Saudi Arabia
93–67
Chinese Taipei
2001
Details
China
Shanghai

China
97–63
Lebanon

South Korea
95–94
OT

Syria
2003
Details
China
Harbin

China
106–96
South Korea

Qatar
77–67
Lebanon
2005
Details
Qatar
Doha

China
77–61
Lebanon

Qatar
89–77
South Korea
2007
Details
Japan
Tokushima

Iran
74–69
Lebanon

South Korea
80–76
Kazakhstan
2009
Details
China
Tianjin

Iran
70–52
China

Jordan
80–66
Lebanon
2011
Details
China
Wuhan

China
70–69
Jordan

South Korea
70–68
Philippines
2013
Details
Philippines
Manila

Iran
85–71
Philippines

South Korea
75–57
Chinese Taipei
2015
Details
China
Changsha

China
78–67
Philippines

Iran
68–63
Japan
2017
Details
Lebanon
Zouk Mikael

Australia
79–56
Iran

South Korea
80–71
New Zealand
2022[a]
Details
Indonesia
Jakarta

Australia
75–73
Lebanon

New Zealand
83–75
Jordan
2025
Details
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah

Medal table[edit]

Map of the countries' best results.
  •   First place
  •   Second place
  •   Third place
  •   Fourth place to Eighth place
  •   Lower than Eighth place
  •   FIBA Asia or FIBA Oceania member, no appearance yet
  •   Not a member of FIBA Asia or FIBA Oceania
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 China161219
2 Philippines54110
3 Iran3115
4 South Korea2111225
5 Japan25714
6 Australia2002
7 Lebanon0404
8 Chinese Taipei0224
9 Jordan0112
10 North Korea0101
11 Qatar0022
12 New Zealand0011
 Saudi Arabia0011
Totals (13 entries)30303090
FIBA Asia Cup is located in Asia
Manila
Manila
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Seoul
Seoul
Bangkok
Bangkok
Taipei
Taipei
Kolkata
Kolkata
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Beijing
Beijing
Jakarta
Jakarta
Riyadh
Riyadh
Shanghai
Shanghai
Harbin
Harbin
Doha
Doha
Tianjin
Tianjin
Wuhan
Wuhan
Changsha
Changsha
Zouk Mikael
Zouk Mikael
Jeddah
Jeddah
Host cities of the FIBA Asia Cup. Cities denoted by blue pogs had hosted more than once.
FIBA Asia Cup is located in Japan
Tokyo
Tokyo
Nagoya
Nagoya
Kobe
Kobe
Fukuoka
Fukuoka
Tokushima
Tokushima
Host cities of the FIBA Asia Cup (Japan).

Tournament awards[edit]

Most recent award winners (2022)
Year Winner
2022 Lebanon Wael Arakji
Year Player Position Team
2022 Wael Arakji Point guard  Lebanon
Mitch McCarron Shooting guard  Australia
Tohi Smith-Milner Power forward  New Zealand
Thon Maker Power forward/center  Australia
Zhou Qi Center  China

Tournament leaders[edit]

  • Minimum of five games played (GP).[3][4]

All-time[edit]

Highest scoring averages[edit]

Rank Player Team GP Pts PPG Tournaments
1 Michael Madanly  Syria 11 314 28.5 Japan 2007, Lebanon 2017
2 Sani Sakakini  Palestine 8 179 22.4 China 2015
3 Alkhas Zaid  Jordan 7 156 22.3 China 2003
4 Fadi El Khatib  Lebanon 39 860 22.1 China 2001, Kuwait 2005,Japan 2007, China 2009, Lebanon 2017
5 Jamal Abu-Shamala  Palestine 8 172 21.5 China 2015
6 Abdullah Alsarraf  Kuwait 14 290 20.7 China 2003, Kuwait 2005
7 A. Mohamad  Syria 7 139 19.9 China 2003
8 K. Satiyseelan  Malaysia 7 138 19.7 China 2003
9 Rasheim Wright  Jordan 26 504 19.4 Japan 2007, China 2009, China 2011

Cumulative top scorers[edit]

Rank Player Team GP Pts PPG
1 Fadi El Khatib  Lebanon 39 860 22.1
2 Hamed Haddadi  Iran 50 746 14.9
3 Samad Nikkhah Bahrami  Iran 44 615 14.0
4 Yi Jianlian  China 36 551 15.3
5 Anton Ponomarev  Kazakhstan 43 548 12.7
6 Kim Joo-sung  South Korea 50 523 10.5
7 Rasheim Wright  Jordan 26 504 19.4
8 Daoud Musa Daoud  Qatar 45 487 10.8
9 Wang Zhizhi  China 34 472 13.9
10 Abdulrahman Saad  Qatar 41 467 11.4

Per tournament[edit]

Points[edit]

Year Player Team GP Pts PPG
2007 Michael Madanly  Syria 7 232 33.1
2007 Fadi El Khatib  Lebanon 8 218 27.3
2009 Rasheim Wright  Jordan 9 186 20.7
2011 Marcus Douthit  Philippines 9 197 21.9
2013 Hamed Haddadi  Iran 9 169 18.8
2017 Fadi El Khatib  Lebanon 7 181 25.9
2015 Sani Sakakini  Palestine 8 179 22.4

Rebounds[edit]

Year Player Team GP Reb RPG
2007 Wissam Yakoub  Syria 7 74 10.6
2009 Hamed Haddadi  Iran 9 118 13.1
2011 Marcus Douthit  Philippines 9 110 12.2
2013 Hamed Haddadi  Iran 9 90 10.0
2015 Sani Sakakini  Palestine 8 101 12.6
2017 Hamed Haddadi  Iran 6 65 10.8

Assists[edit]

Year Player Team GP Ast APG
2007 Sambhaji Kadam  India 7 28 4.0
2009 Samad Nikkhah Bahrami  Iran 9 43 4.8
2011 Mario Wuysang  Indonesia 5 32 6.4
2013 Mehdi Kamrani  Iran 9 59 6.6
2015 Imad Qahwash  Palestine 8 48 6.0
2017 Hamed Haddadi  Iran 6 39 6.5

Participating nations[edit]

20th century[edit]

Nation Philippines
1960
Taiwan
1963
Malaysia
1965
South Korea
1967
Thailand
1969
Japan
1971
Philippines
1973
Thailand
1975
Malaysia
1977
Japan
1979
India
1981
Hong Kong
1983
Malaysia
1985
Thailand
1987
China
1989
Japan
1991
Indonesia
1993
South Korea
1995
Saudi Arabia
1997
Japan
1999
 Bahrain 12th 12th 13th 15th 10th 12th
 Bangladesh 13th 15th 18th 15th
 China 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 1st
 Chinese Taipei 2nd 2nd 5th 5th 4th 4th 3rd 6th 5th 3rd 4th 5th 4th 6th 4th
 Hong Kong 5th 6th 8th 9th 9th 9th 11th 9th 10th 11th 10th 7th 13th 14th 13th 11th 13th 15th 14th 13th
 India 7th 6th 5th 6th 6th 4th 7th 5th 5th 6th 10th 6th 6th 13th 13th 11th
 Indonesia 6th 4th 8th 10th 13th 12th 11th 12th 14th 14th 12th 18th 12th
 Iran 5th 8th 5th 8th 5th 6th 4th 10th 8th
 Iraq 6th 8th 9th
 Japan 3rd 1st 3rd 2nd 1st 4th 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 5th 3rd 4th 3rd 7th 3rd 2nd 5th
 Jordan 8th 9th 10th 8th 9th 17th 7th
 Kazakhstan 5th 13th
 Kuwait 12th 4th 12th 10th 11th 6th
 Kyrgyzstan 8th
 Lebanon 7th
 Macau 15th 15th
 Malaysia 7th 5th 6th 8th 7th 5th 9th 8th 4th 7th 6th 11th 4th 7th 9th 17th 14th 14th 15th
 North Korea 5th 2nd
 Pakistan 8th 12th 11th 9th 6th 9th 13th 14th 10th 17th
 Philippines 1st 1st 2nd 1st 3rd 2nd 1st 5th 5th 4th 4th 9th 1st 4th 8th 7th 11th 12th 9th 11th
 Qatar 16th
 Saudi Arabia 7th 9th 6th 6th 4th 3rd
 Singapore 7th 9th 10th 8th 10th 7th 11th 10th 11th 14th 12th 11th 11th 10th 16th
 South Korea 4th 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 1st 2nd
 Sri Lanka 13th 14th 12th 15th 18th 19th
 Syria 8th
 Thailand 4th 4th 7th 6th 7th 7th 6th 8th 9th 7th 10th 7th 8th 12th 15th 16th 14th
 United Arab Emirates 8th 9th 5th 10th
 Uzbekistan 7th 9th
 Vietnam 8th 10th
Total 7 8 10 10 9 9 12 13 14 13 12 15 15 15 15 18 18 19 15 15

21st century[edit]

Nation China
2001
China
2003
Qatar
2005
Japan
2007
China
2009
China
2011
Philippines
2013
China
2015
Lebanon
2017
Indonesia
2022
Saudi Arabia
2025
Years
 Australia 1st 1st 2
 Bahrain 15th 12th 13th 9
 Bangladesh 4
 China 1st 1st 1st 10th 2nd 1st 5th 1st 5th 8th 23
 Chinese Taipei 7th 11th 9th 6th 5th 8th 4th 13th 12th 10th 25
 Hong Kong 11th 13th 15th 13th 10th 12th 15th 27
 India 8th 8th 12th 15th 13th 14th 11th 8th 14th 16th 26
 Indonesia 14th 12th 15th 13th 11th 18
 Iran 5th 6th 1st 1st 5th 1st 3rd 2nd 5th 18
 Iraq 11th 4
 Japan 6th 6th 5th 8th 10th 7th 9th 4th 9th 7th 29
 Jordan 10th 7th 5th 3rd 2nd 7th 9th 8th 4th 16
 Kazakhstan 7th 10th 4th 9th 8th 11th 16th 15th 10
 Kuwait 12th 12th 13th 14th 11th 14th 12
 Kyrgyzstan 1
 Lebanon 2nd 4th 2nd 2nd 4th 6th 5th 6th 2nd 10
 Macau 2
 Malaysia 16th 16th 11th 15th 16th 24
 New Zealand 4th 3rd 2
 North Korea 2
 Pakistan 10
 Palestine 10th 1
 Philippines 15th 9th 8th 4th 2nd 2nd 7th 9th 28
 Qatar 5th 3rd 3rd 7th 6th 16th 6th 7th 13th 10
 Saudi Arabia 8th 13th 14th Q 10
 Singapore 14th 15th 17
 South Korea 3rd 2nd 4th 3rd 7th 3rd 3rd 6th 3rd 6th 30
 Sri Lanka 16th 7
 Syria 4th 9th 11th 9th 10th 12th 7
 Thailand 13th 14th 19
 United Arab Emirates 10th 16th 12th 10th 8
 Uzbekistan 9th 14th 11th 14th 12th 7
 Vietnam 2
Total 14 16 16 16 16 16 15 16 16 16 16

General statistics[edit]

All-time statistics, as of the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup.

Team GP Won Lost Pct.
 Australia 12 12 0 100.00%
 Bahrain 62 20 42 32.26%
 Bangladesh 25 0 25 0.00%
 China 179 163 16 91.06%
 Chinese Taipei 192 115 77 59.90%
 Hong Kong 194 53 141 27.32%
 India 178 71 107 39.89%
 Indonesia 120 33 87 27.50%
 Iran 134 90 44 67.16%
 Iraq 29 14 15 48.28%
 Japan 221 146 75 66.06%
 Jordan 119 63 56 52.94%
 Kazakhstan 67 28 39 41.79%
 Kuwait 84 29 55 34.52%
 Kyrgyzstan 8 3 5 37.50%
 Lebanon 79 49 30 62.03%
 Macau 12 0 12 0.00%
 Malaysia 175 59 116 33.71%
 New Zealand 13 8 5 61.54%
 North Korea 14 10 4 71.43%
 Pakistan 73 21 52 28.77%
 Palestine 8 4 4 50.00%
 Philippines 215 141 74 65.58%
 Qatar 72 36 36 50.00%
 Saudi Arabia 60 29 31 48.33%
 Singapore 127 36 91 28.35%
 South Korea 240 185 55 77.08%
 Sri Lanka 46 0 46 0.00%
 Syria 43 17 26 39.53%
 Thailand 145 57 88 39.31%
 United Arab Emirates 56 22 34 39.29%
 Uzbekistan 45 17 28 37.78%
 Vietnam 17 1 16 5.88%

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Originally scheduled for 2021, but postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Etchells, Daniel (2 June 2017). "Holders China learn group-stage opponents for 2017 FIBA Asia Cup". Inside the Games. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  2. ^ Beltran, Nelson (31 May 2017). "'Stand-alone' FIBA Asia Cup crowns continental champ". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  3. ^ "FIBA Archive", FIBA.com, 3 October 2015, archived from the original on 12 July 2011, retrieved 13 October 2015
  4. ^ "FIBA Archive: highest scoring average in FIBA Asia Championship", FIBA.com, 3 October 2015, archived from the original on 26 August 2017, retrieved 26 August 2017