The best teams from the Asian continent will meet to compete for the 3 spots for Japan. The Asian qualifier for the FIBA World Championship 2006 in Japan will be played in Doha, Qatar from September 8 - 16, 2005.

With the qualifier for the FIBA Asia Championship over, there is a complete list of 16 teams.

Teams participating in the FIBA Asia Championship 2005:
China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait,　Lebanon, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan.

At the last championship in 2003, the qualifier for the Athens Olympic basketball tournament, the top four teams were China, Korea, Qatar and Lebanon.

China qualified for the Athens, playing with Yao Ming, placed a frustrating 8th. In 2002 in Indianapolis, China placed 12th and Lebanon 16th. This year, there are 3 places for teams to compete against and qualify for a shot at the world title.

For more information on the 2006 FIBA World Championship and the qualifiers check www.fiba.com

(bscup.sina.com.cn July 25, 2005)