Hosts Qatar drawn with Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran in Group B

The Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) has announced the groupings of the 16 teams participating in the seventh edition of the Asian Basketball Championship for under 16 years.The championship will be hosted by Doha from September 17 to 24 and will be qualifier for the World Cup under 18 years.The teams have been divided into four groups (A, B, C, and D) of four teams per group.Qatar national basketball team have been placed in Group B, alongside Saudi Arabia, Iran and Japan.The seventh edition of the championship will witness the participation of 16 teams, namely: Qatar (the host), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Iran, Malaysia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, China, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, India, and Sri Lanka.The local organising committee of the tournament has revealed that the matches of the seventh edition will be held in Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan halls.The committee has also issued the schedule of matches, where the Qatari team will face Saudi Arabia in the opening match on September 17 at 7:30pm. Al-Annabi will play the second match against Japan on September 18 at 7:00pm and will conclude its matches in the group stage on September 19 with a meeting with Iran at five in the evening. The Qatari team will play all three matches in the Al Gharafa Club hall.The tournament will be opened by a meeting between Australia and India at 11:30am in the Al Gharafa Club Hall for the matches of Group A, which includes Sri Lanka and Lebanon alongside them.Malaysia hosted the first edition of the Asian Championship in 2009, followed by the second edition in Vietnam in 2011, and the third edition in Iran in 2013. These three editions were titled by the Chinese national team.South Korea won the title of the fourth edition in 2015 in Indonesia, and Australia won the title of the fifth edition, which China hosted in 2017. The tournament was interrupted for about 5 years due to the Coronavirus pandemic before Qatar hosted the sixth edition in the summer of last year, during which Australia retained the title for the second time in a row.Qatar’s national under-16 basketball team won the Gulf Basketball Championship – Gulf Region, which was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last month, accompanied by the teams of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. In the Asian Championship, the team will have the opportunity to qualify for the World Championship.