FIBA U16 Women's Asian 2023 Division A: For gold, and for the U17 Worlds

AMMAN (Jordan) - Teams are raring to hit the hardwood now that the FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship 2023 - Division A tip-off is drawing closer and closer.

Winning gold is the main goal, but reaching the Semi-Finals would mean a lot as well. For starters, four tickets to the prestigious FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2024 in Mexico are up for grabs in the continental youth meet to be held in the Jordanian capital.

The tournament is scheduled to take place on 10-16 July 2023 and so, it definitely is high time to take a look at the participating nations competing in the topflight level.

Group A

		GAMES				STREAK	GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	Last 5	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Australia	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Korea	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Thailand	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Syria	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0

Group B

		GAMES				STREAK	GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	Last 5	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	China	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Japan	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
3	New Zealand	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Samoa	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0

Three-peat seekers

Eyes are on Australia in the upcoming festivities, with many waiting to see if they could pull off history by becoming the only team to win the U16 Women's Asian Championship for three straight times.

Since the competition's inception in 2009, nobody has ever accomplished the so-called 'three-peat.' China had the chance to do so in 2017 but the Sapphires themselves spoiled those plans, eventually placing themselves on top of the podium to make their debut so memorable.

They went back-to-back in last year's edition also held in Amman. Thus, the attention drawn their way heading into this year's tourney, which will feature a total of nine teams.

Will it be the same four?

The 2022 edition saw Australia, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand reach the Semis. All of them went on to see action in the U17 Women's Basketball World Cup in Hungary the following month.

Will that four pull of an encore? That remains to be seen, although historically speaking, the Sapphires, the Akatsuki, and the Junior Tall Ferns have been in the said stage since 2017.

Redeem teams?

However, there are two teams which last year's Semi-Finalists - or the rest of the competition, rather - should really keep a close eye on: China and Chinese Taipei.

Before the Aussies' reign, Team China were the U16 Women's Asian Championship's first dynasty. They won three of the first four editions, including the 2009 inaugurals, and all those times the squad were among the region's representatives to the U17 Women's Basketball World Cup.

It was the same in 2017 when they finished with a bronze. But that ended in 2022 when they didn't participate, which was an opportunity that boded so well especially for Korea as they returned to the Semis after bowing out of the Quarter-Finals in 2017 against China.

Chinese Taipei, on the other hand, were a Semi-Final fixture in the first four editions of the U16 Women's Asian Championship together with China, Japan, and Korea.

But that changed in 2017. They only finished sixth with an overall record of 1-5, and didn't have the chance to redeem themselves as they, too, didn't take part in last year's event.

The team that essentially took the 2009 bronze winners' place in the Final Four are New Zealand, who are looking for a place in the podium this year after back-to-back fourth-place finishes.

Can't forget 'em, though

Much has been said about the perennial contenders but lest we forget that there are still other competitors that could wield the upset ax - or even shock the entire competition.

For one, Southeast Asian contenders Thailand are back in the U16 Women's Asian Championship for the first time since 2017, where they finished seventh with a 2-4 overall record.

Samoa aren't one to overlooked, too, for they're surely motivated to show that their conquest of Division B last year to earn the Division A promotion is no fluke. Ditto with fellow debutants Syria, who gave the Samoans a hard time in a thrilling clash of Cinderella stories in the Div. B Final.

FIBA