Hong Kong basketball chiefs remain hopeful despite dismal Fiba Asia Cup qualifying campaign
Sunday’s 99-83 loss to Chinese Taipei at Tsuen Wan Sports Centre marks a sixth consecutive defeat and missing out on regional event again
Hong Kong basketball bosses insisted they were still on the right track despite the men’s team racking up a sixth straight defeat to end a miserable Fiba Asia Cup qualifying campaign.
A 99-83 loss to Chinese Taipei at Tsuen Wan Sports Centre on Sunday marked the end of the road for Hong Kong, after they scraped through the pre-qualifiers with wins over Singapore and Malaysia.
The result means Hong Kong not only miss out on the main event again – after failing to advance in 2022 – but they seem doomed to start at the pre-qualifying stage once more for the next regional tournament.
Indonesia, Guam and Mongolia are expected to be among Hong Kong’s potential opponents after also being knocked out in the same stage. Still, Benny Chau Chi-yan, vice-president of the Basketball Association of Hong Kong, China, said it would be a “tough” route to battle through.
“Mongolia are actively developing regular basketball [after previously working on the 3x3 version], they have the players and resources available,” he said. “There is little or no chance against Indonesia after they recruited a few naturalised players – basically Americans.
“For now, I think Mongolia are the exception [in the region] when it comes to naturalising players.”