Jordan plays for 7-8th place at FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship

AMMAN — Following dramatic matches on the final day of Round 1, Jordan has settled to play for 7-8th spots at the FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship Division B when Round 2 starts at Prince Hamzah Arena on Tuesday.

Jordan lost 68-41 to Iran, 77-56 to Kazakhstan before losing 60-56 in the final minutes to Lebanon. They will now have a tough match against unrelenting Indonesia for 7th place in Group B.

Group A saw Syria score a dramatic buzzer beater against Indonesia 75-74 to move to Round 2 and play Iran for a spot in the semifinals, while Kazakhstan plays Samoa in the match deciding the other semifinalist.

Group A leaders Philippines will play the winner of the Kazakhstan versus Samoa match in the semis while Group B leaders Lebanon play the winner of the Syria versus Iran match. Teams losing the semifinal qualifying matches will play for 5-6th spots. The event’s top team will be promoted to Division A.

Teams competing in Division A are Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand and the tournament qualifies the region’s four teams to the FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022, that will take place in Hungary in July. The Championship has been held five times since 2009, with China winning the title three times and Japan and Australia once each.

After hosting the Women’s Asia Cup Divisions A & B earlier, hosting the FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women in Jordan marks another milestone for the game. Jordan played at the U16 tournament once in 2013 finishing 11th. Jordan also took part in FIBA Asia U18 in 1996 finishing 8th, and hosted the event in 2014 finishing 11th. 

Jordan hosted the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2021 finishing second in Division B, marking the first time the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2021 Division A was held in an Arab country. Lebanon were promoted to Division A for the 2023 tournament, replacing India which finished last in Division A. Indonesia beat Kazakhstan for third place, as Syria beat Iran to finish fifth. 

Making it to the final after the national team was absent from Asian competitions since 1995, was an achievement in itself. Jordan’s senior team was back to Asian competition after an absence of 26 years when the squad first took part in Shizuoka, Japan in 1995. That historic participation was the Kingdom’s first ever Asian appearance for a women’s sports team. Jordan then won one match, beating Indonesia, and lost to Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Malaysia to finish 11th.

In men’s events, Jordan’s best showing at the FIBA Asia Cup (previously named FIBA Asia Championship) was third in 2009 and runner-up in 2011. This year, Jordan qualified to the FIBA Asia Cup after an unbeaten streak in qualifiers. The FIBA Asia Cup 2021 will be played in Jakarta, Indonesia in July 2022, right after the window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asia qualifiers. 

On the world scene, Jordan previously reached the FIBA Basketball World Cup — the world’s premier basketball competition twice — in 2010 and 2019. The basketball squad was the first and only Jordanian team to actually reach a World Cup in a team sport alongside the junior men’s team in 1995.