MANAMA (Bahrain) - It wasn't the most ideal conclusion to their respective Window 3 campaigns in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers last February but that did not spell the end for Iraq, Bahrain, and India.
These three wrapped up the Qualifiers with defeats, but one silver lining they all looked at was the fact that they did enough to keep their hopes of advancing alive through the Qualifying Tournament for Third-Place Teams, which opened just this Wednesday in Taipei City that saw Chinese Taipei maul Guam in Group G action.
Group H featuring the aforementioned troika will finally roll into action Friday night in the Bahraini capital, and it would be interesting to see which among them would be quicker to the draw.
Iraq and India will open pool play at the Khalifa Sports City in 22:00 local time, with much of the attention drawn on the Lions of Mesopotamia given their gallant stand against Jordan back in Window 3.
Yes, they did lose that one, but not before giving the Falcons a run for their money. They got off to a strong start and even led by as many as 19 points, but experience proved to be the difference as the visiting side clawed their way back and eventually took the 73-67 result, completing the 6-0 sweep of Group D.
That surely left a bitter taste on the mouths of the Iraqis, and so they're looking at their South Asian counterparts to not only vent ire but, of course, to make headway in their bid of reaching the Asia Cup.
India, though, wouldn't want any of that to happen as they're also shooting for redemption in the final qualifying tournament. After that memorable Window 2 run where they beat Kazakhstan for the first time in a very long while, the crew couldn't keep their winning ways come Window 3, losing to Iran and then Qatar via big margin.
Now they want to bounce back as soon as they can, which if they do would give them an opportunity to reach FIBA's flagship event in Asia, which they've competed in for a total of 26 times.
But not to be forgotten in Group H are Bahrain, who will start their Asia Cup return bid on Saturday night against India, hoping that homecourt advantage would play a major factor in their attempt of picking themselves up after an underwhelming Window 3 performance where they lost both of their assignments.
That included a narrow 89-87 defeat to Syria in Qatar, a result so difficult to swallow for Coach Jad El Hajj & Co. as they lost in the virtual knockout for the remaining direct ticket to the tournament proper.
Still, it's not the end of the road yet for Bahrain and the same applies for Iraq and India, making Group H an even more interesting pool as all three are hungry and have been waiting for one last shot at the Asia Cup.
For the complete schedule, click here.
FIBA