Asian Basketball Championships
|
Most recent season or competition: 2017 FIBA Asia Cup |
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| Formerly | FIBA Asia Championship |
|---|---|
| Sport | Basketball |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Inaugural season | 1960 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country | FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania member nations (from 2017) |
| Continent | FIBA Asia (Asia) and FIBA Oceania (Oceania) |
| Most recent champion(s) |
 Australia (1st title) |
| Most titles |
 China (16 titles) |
| Official website | FIBA Asia |
The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly FIBA Asia Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between men's national teams of Asia and Oceania. This was the Asian qualifying tournament for the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Olympic basketball tournament. The 2013 and 2015 were the last Asian Championships to serve as qualifiers to the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Beginning in 2017, the tournament was renamed the FIBA Asia Cup and now includes teams from FIBA Oceania. Also, the 2017 tournament was the first to be played on a new four-year cycle, with the next Asia Cup to be held in 2021.
The Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship was inaugurated in Manila in 1960. The championship was held to find Asia's best team and for qualification to the World Championship and the Olympics. On the next four tournaments, the Philippines won 3 with the Japanese beating the Filipinos on 1965. Korea, Japan and the Philippines split the next 3 championships until China debuted on 1975 at Bangkok with the championship, where they've dominated ever since.
From 1975 to 2007, there were only two instances where China did not win the championship. In 1985, the Philippines defeated a full-strength Chinese team, which were by then five-time defending champions, in the championship round. The Chinese then won every game in the championship until 1997, where they to lost to South Korea in the semifinals where they complained about the climate in Riyadh. The Koreans beat the Japanese in the final, but the Chinese would then start a championship streak of four tournaments, led by Yao Ming.
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