PANDEMIC can't stop the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers from rolling starting on Thursday.
Nine nations will see action in the designated window from Feb. 18 to 22 as they all vie for tickets to the continental tiff in Malaysia scheduled in August.
Australia and New Zealand face off on Saturday at Cairns in the sole game scheduled from Group C.
Travel restrictions have earlier forced Fiba's hand to once again postpone games for Guam and Hong Kong, which belong in the aforementioned bracket.
Meanwhile, two groups will be playing in Bahrain with the Manama bubble once again open for business.
Set to play there are Group D, with hosts Bahrain, Lebanon, India, and Iraq; and Group F, composed of Kazakhstan, Palestine, and Sri Lanka.
Lebanon and Bahrain have already qualified for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup.
Jordan, meanwhile, won't be able to play its scheduled games in Group F inside the Manama bubble as 10 members of its delegation -- including seven players -- tested positive for COVID-19 upon their arrival in Bahrain.
Fiba is still burning the lines to stage the other sets of games, with the memorandum released by Fiba Asia executive director Hagop Khajirian last Friday awarding the hosting duties to the Philippines and Lebanon.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), however, has yet to secure a clearance from the government in the supposed hosting in a still to be determined date.
Among those with games still left to be played are Group A, which has Gilas Pilipinas, Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand; Group B with China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Malaysia; and Group E which has Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
Only the top two teams from the six groups, as well as three of the best third-place teams and host Indonesia, will progress to the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup.
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