29th edition of the Asia Basketball Cup

AMMAN — The 29th edition of the Asia Basketball Cup gets underway on Monday, with four matches at the Al-Hussein Youth City Club, Prince Hamzeh Hall.اضافة اعلان

Japan, the titleholder, is up against India at 10am, followed by South Korea and New Zealand at 1pm in group I.

The group II matches start at 4pm, with China playing the Philippines, followed by Australia up against Chinese Taipei at 7pm. 

Jordanian artist Violetta Al-Yousef will start the evening session by singing the national anthem, followed by a musical performance by the armed forces.

‘The hawk’, which is included in the logo of the tournament will be present on the gym floor, with the women’s national junior players (under the age of 16) entering in Jordanian traditional dress accompanied by a promotional video showing the most prominent tourist areas in Jordan. 

Dina Halaseh, a member of the Jordan basketball federation, and head of the women’s committee said that Jordan’s hosting of the Asian Cup is a step forward for the female players to widen their horizons. 

Halaseh told Jordan News: “It is a great honor to the host the Asian Cup as the first country in the region, and that is a great sign of how keen the league is to develop the women’s base.” 

This edition is the 29th of the competition, launched in 1965 in South Korea. China, Japan, and South Korea are the only countries to have won the Asian Cup title. South Korea has 12 titles, followed by China with 11 titles and Japan with five.

Australia and New Zealand have joined the competition for the Asian title, but both have yet to win the title.

The Japanese team is considered a strong candidate to finish first in its group, having reached the 2020 Olympic finals, while South Korea is expected to take second place despite the absence of star player Park Ji-su. However, the New Zealand team should not be discounted, especially with some very tall players who can control the rhythm according to the course of the game. 

The Indian team appears to be the weakest “on paper”, especially since its participation in the first level comes after the second level didn’t happen due to COVID-19.

In group II China is expected to perform well in its group, especially as it is rebuilding the team that was supposed to reach the Tokyo quarter-final 2020. China, alongside Chinese Taipei are expected to be the teams to beat.

However, while Australia is missing a number of talented players who participated in the Olympics, it is not impossible for the Australians to cause an upset against China or Japan.

 The Asian Basketball cup runs from September 27 to October 3.

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