The 2017 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship (also known as the 2018 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship) was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup. The tournament was held in Foshan, China from 2 to 8 April 2018.[1] The competition was scheduled to be played in Dalang, China from 26 March to 1 April 2018.[2] The top four teams would represent FIBA Asia to the 2018 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup.
Aside from the host nation and the defending champions, each of FIBA Asia's six subzones also gets one berth each, except for the Persian Gulf and West Asian subzones, which were allocated two berths each. Rounding out the 16-team tournament are the four berths that would be added to each subzone, depending on its teams' performance in the previous championship. Also noted is the participation of FIBA Oceania teams from Australia and New Zealand.[3]
Initially, sixteen (16) teams were named as qualified to compete,[4] but according to the tournament's official website, there were only thirteen (13) teams left to participate.[5]
This edition of the tournament will be having a different format as compared to what was used since 2009. While there would still be a preliminary round robin of four groups of four teams, the single-elimination final round immediately follows the preliminary round. In the final round, the teams that finished second and third in their respective groups would play in the qualifications to quarterfinals of the final round, while the group winners automatically qualify to the quarterfinals proper.[6]
Draw
The official draw was held on 6 March 2017 in Beijing.[7]
Australia (1st title)
China
New Zealand
Philippines
Matin Aghajanpour
