Exciting times for women's basketball in Asia-Oceania with three teams among world's best

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - As women's basketball continues to grow in popularity all over the world, it's refreshing for fans of Asia-Oceania basketball to know that some of the tops national teams in the region are actually among the best in the world.

The three teams, Australia, China, and Japan, have been in the top 10 of the FIBA World Ranking Women, presented by Nike ever since the system was updated late last year, and will be looking to continue climbing up the ladder whenever action fully resumes.

As of the latest update on 12 February 2020, reigning FIBA Women's Asia Cup Champions Japan are still holding onto their tenth spot in the ranking with 540.1 points. They already had some inspiring performances at the FIBA Women's Olympics Qualifying Tournament 2020 in Ostend, so a successful run at the Tokyo Olympics could very well give them a strong boost upwards in the rankings.

China might have dropped a spot in the recent updates to ninth, but that should not overshadow the fact that they could be on the rise soon. They had a successful run at the Women's OQT in Belgrade with three big wins to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics as well as add their point total up to 571.5. China is loaded with exciting young talents, which means it more than possible to reclaim their spot in rankings… and maybe even go higher.

As the second-ranked team in the world already, it's going to take a lot for Australia to move up the ranking and overtake the almighty USA. Still, anything is possible and the Opals are more than capable of racking up a string of wins to chip into the point difference. The Opals are currently at 714.5 points after the Women's OQTs where they took a slight bump in a loss to hosts France. Nonetheless, they are considered as one of the favorites for the Tokyo Olympics which is where they are aiming to lock up wins and gain those much-needed points to close in the gap.

It's exciting times for women's basketball with so many great teams and players on the rise. Therefore, it's especially exciting for the Asia-Oceania region with these three teams among the world's best and ready to step it up once again when the time comes.

FIBA