THE anxious wait ends with the draw ceremony for the 2023 Fiba World Cup qualifiers set on Tuesday.
The 16 teams that qualified for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup are eligible to be part of the qualifiers and will be divided into four groups of four.
Placed in Pot 5 with Japan, the Philippines can only be grouped with nations from East Asia and Oceania which are all distributed in other odd-numbered pots and will be drawn to either Groups A and B in the qualifiers.
Australia and New Zealand are in Pot 1, China and Korea in Pot 3, and Chinese Taipei and India in Pot 7.
Meanwhile, teams from the Middle East and Central Asia, as well as Fiba Asia host Indonesia, are placed in even-numbered pots to feed Groups C and D.
Iran and Jordan are in Pot 2, Lebanon and Kazakhstan in Pot 4, Syria and Indonesia in Pot 6, and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in Pot 8.
The draw will be held at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland at 6 p.m.
Gilas Pilipinas
Only the top three nations in each group after the double round-robin first round will advance to the second round, where Groups A and C to form Group E, and Groups B and D to form Group F will merge to engage in another home-and-away double round-robin format, with only the top three nations in each group earning tickets to the Fiba World Cup.
Although the Philippines and Japan have already qualified as hosts, Gilas Pilipinas and Akatsuki Five are still looking to utilize these home-and-away games as preparations for the global hoops conclave in two years' time.
That brings down the allotted seats for Asia to just six, and possibly five if Indonesia makes it to the top eight of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup.
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