Australia and Lebanon to host FIBA Under 16 Asian Championships

Australia and Lebanon will host the 2019 FIBA Under 16 Asian Championships held from the 5-12 April 2020.

Sixteen teams will converge on Canberra from 5-10 April for the women's event to be played at AIS Arena. Australia will be joined by Japan, China, New Zealand, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and India competing in Division A. Division B will feature Fiji and Samoa, who will be joined by six teams from Asia on a first-come first-registered basis.

The Top four teams in the Division A event will book a place at the 2020 FIBA Under 17 Women's Basketball World Cup Cluj-Napoca, Romania this August.

A further sixteen boys teams will head to Beirut from 5-12 April, where the participating teams will be divided into four groups of four teams each. the best teams from Asia and Oceana will do battle, with the top four teams booking their places at the 2020 FIBA Under 17 Basketball World Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria this July.

Australia's boys will be joined by Oceania rivals New Zealand and hosts Lebabon, but also Korea, Chinese Taipei, China, Syria, Iran, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, India, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

While the draws have yet to be released for either event, the women's event in Canberra is a fantastic opportunity to see some of the best junior talent in the Asia-Oceania region on Australian soil in the lead up to the Under 17 World Cup.

The event will mark the first time a FIBA standalone tournament has been held in Australia since the FIBA Oceania region was grouped together with FIBA Asia by the world's governing body for the sport for world cup qualification.

Australia has a rich history at junior World Cup level, with the Sapphires earning gold in 2016, while they came away with bronze at the most recent event held in 2018. The Crocs earned silver behind the USA at the 2012 and 2014 events, and will be hoping to return to the podium for the first time this year after finishing sixth in 2018.