Pre-Qualifiers Group A & B Previews: Road to Asia Cup 2025 starts here

DOHA (Qatar) & JENIN (Palestine) - The FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Pre-Qualifiers will be tipping off in a few days, marking the start of the journey towards FIBA Asia Cup 2025. Before we dive into the action, let’s take a quick peek at each of the teams that will be playing.

Group A

Qatar 

Overview: Qatar are in the process of rebuilding their team with a number of younger players getting bigger roles in a new system. They are also coming off the disappointment of missing their first Asia Cup after nine consecutive appearances. Add in the factor of playing at home, and fans should expect to see a highly motivated and energized squad.

Player(s) to Watch: It’s expected that Qatar will be lining up a young squad for these Pre-Qualifiers, but these young guns will already have quite some experience. Most of the team will have already played a significant role for Qatar through the Asia Cup 2022 Qualifiers and will be looking to add on even more mileage here at the Pre-Qualifiers.

An interesting player to follow might be Babacar Dieng. The 24-year-old forward was one of only two players to play in all Qualifiers games for Qatar, putting up decent averages of 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

UAE 

Overview: UAE have already been through the Pre-Qualifiers cycle, coming up just short of advancing from the GBA Pre-Qualifiers in 2018. Of course, they went up against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and held their own, losing by only a few points here and there.

After seeing both of those teams go all the way to Asia Cup 2022, UAE should have confidence as they head into this First Round of the Pre-Qualifiers, also coming off a gold medal run through the GCC Games.

UAE are hungry to return to the Asia Cup, especially those who played in their last appearance back in 2011. They’ll now get the chance to prove themselves worthy of getting back to the main stage.

Player(s) to Watch: The Albreiki brothers playing on the court together would be certainly fun to watch. As seen in their run to winning gold in the GCC games, they can put points on the board with more than 20 points per game combined between Mohamed and Hamid.

However, UAE’s biggest threat to the opposition might be big man Qais Omar Alshabebi. The 2.00M (6’7”) center has been UAE’s star and focus point on offense ever since the last time they played in the Pre-Qualifiers where he averaged a double-double of 17.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game on 53.1 percent shooting from the field. It doesn’t seem like he’s slowed down either, as he was UAE’s main force through the GCC Games as well.

 

Oman 

Overview: It might be a bit tough for Oman to be in the same group with Qatar and UAE. Oman also played in the GBA Pre-Qualifiers back in 2018, though they were unable to secure a win across 6 games.

A bright spot to point out might be that one of their losses to UAE was by only 3 points, and maybe that’s something that they can build on in this campaign.

Player(s) to Watch: Ahmed Al-Halhali should be back in this Pre-Qualifiers, which is much needed for Oman. The 29-year-old led the team in points (11.3 per game), rebounds (8.5 per game), assists (2.8 per game), and steals (1.8 per game), so don’t be surprised if he does something similar this time aroud.

Group B

Iraq 

Overview: Iraq are a stacked team with talented individuals across their roster, but were unfortunately unable to make it out of loaded Group D in the Asia Cup 2022 Qualifiers. That resulted in them missing on making their second straight Asia Cup appearance as well as having to play through the Pre-Qualifiers for a chance at qualifying for Asia Cup 2025.

Make no mistake though, Iraq are easily one of the best teams in the Pre-Qualifiers pool of teams, regardless of group. Iraq are a team that have size in paint and length on the wings, making them a difficult team to play against. If they add a star into the mix like Demario Mayfield, who averaged 23.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game during the Asia Cup Qualifiers, Iraq will be a very solid team.

Player(s) to Watch: Aside from the aforementioned Mayfield, Iraq’s strength lies in their paint presence. One player that is expected to make the jump from promising young talent to national team star is Ihab Al-Zuhairi. The 24-year-old stands at a towering height of 2.10M (6’11”) and scored in double-digits in all but one game of the Asia Cup Qualifiers. He ended up with averages of 10.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, which seems like the bare minimum to expect from in these upcoming Pre-Qualifiers game.

Palestine 

Overview: Palestine were right at the doorstep of the Asia Cup 2022 party, but barely missed out when they lost to India and Saudi Arabia in the Qualifying Tournament for Third-place teams. Now, they’re back to playing through the Pre-Qualifiers, as they did in 2018. One major difference at this point is that might not have Sani Sakakini to rely on, after he announced his retirement from national team play at the end of the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Nonetheless, there’s still plenty of talent across the board for Palestine to put on the floor. That’s what the fans will be expecting to see, at least, as the city of Jenin will be hosting yet another FIBA Asia competition in this Pre-Qualifiers. The hometown crowd were electric the last time Palestine hosted Sri Lanka at the Asia Cup Qualifiers and that what should be expected once again as they host Iraq and Kuwait in the upcoming days.

Player(s) to Watch: There should be some big changes in how Palestine plays, which means a lot of opportunities for younger, newer players to step up for the team.

Keep an eye out for Jamal Mayali to improve his game and put that on display. The 23-year-old was already a key piece of the team in the previous Qualifiers, playing 33.0 minutes per game to average 11.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per contest. Palestine will need all the fire power they can get and Mayali has the potential to provide it.

Kuwait 

Overview: It actually hasn’t been that long since Asia Cup fans have seen Kuwait in action, as they did make an appearance in 2015. However, they didn’t play in the GBA Pre-Qualifiers and seems a bit under the radar with less screen time.

However, those that have kept an eye on the GCC Games this past month will know that Kuwait should not be taken lightly. Kuwait beat the likes of Saudi Arabia (twice!), Bahrain, and Qatar on their way to the championship game, and even though they lost, it was only by 3 points.

Player(s) to Watch: There should be some players from the Asia Cup 2015, but the player to keep an eye on for Kuwait should be Alex Alghais.

The sharpshooting guard was one of the main reasons why Kuwait were such a solid team in the GCC Games and has proven himself playing in club competitions in the country as well. He has experience playing in the USA and Germany, and can be a problem if he heats up from long range.

FIBA