Iran start planning for Turin OQT

TEHRAN (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Iran are wasting no time with their preparations for the Turin Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

The FIBA Asia giants ended up in the OQT last week with Greece, Mexico, Italy, Croatia and Tunisia. Only the winning side of the OQT will progress to the Rio de Janeiro Games. The Turin tournament will run from 4-9 July.

The Iranian Basketball Federation secretary general Ali Towfigh Khatab has told FIBA.com that he is already discussing plans for the OQT preparations with coach Dirk Bauermann, who recently signed a four-year extension to stay in charge of the national team. Iran have an invitation to participate in a friendly tournament in China and there are also talks to be had with European federations about warm-up events.

"I've also prepared a letter and will send to European teams Serbia, Latvia, Turkey and one more," Towfigh Khatab said. "We'll be looking for a decision whether they will invite us to tournaments or not."

Iran have some tough OQT opponents to overcome if they are to make it to an Olympics for the second time in their history. They are in Group A and will face Greece on opening day and Mexico on Day 2.

Iran need a top-two finish to advance to a Semi-Final, where they would then face one of the top-two sides from a Group B that consists of Italy, Croatia and Tunisia.

To be honest with you, all of those teams are great teams. Most of them were top four in their qualifying zones. It's very difficult for us, but we'll try and do our best in qualifications. - Towfigh Khatab

Bauermann coached Iran last year at the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha-Hunan to a third-place finish. They clinched a spot in the OQTs with a 75-62 Quarter-Final triumph over Korea.

The German coach, who led his homeland to an Olympic berth in Beijing when they competed at the OQT in Athens in 2008, did not steer the Iranians to victory over China in the Semi-Finals last year but led them to a bounce-back win over Japan in the third-place game. Bauermann recently agreed to a new deal with Iran that will see him do a lot more than coaching players in practices and games.

Bauermann, we signed to a contract for four years, for the long-term development in Iranian Basketball. He started the last two weeks, supervised all the games of the Super League under-18s. He has also held two clinics, one in the south of Iran and one in the north. We are happy with him - Towfigh Khatab

Iran played at the 2008 Olympics and still have players in their team that experienced those Summer Games in Beijing. They suffered a Quarter-Final elimination at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, thus depriving them of a spot in the OQT.

FIBA