India placed in Group A at FIBA Asia Cup

The Indian men's basketball team has been placed in Group A, alongside Iran, Jordan and Syria at the FIBA Asia Cup scheduled to be held in Lebanon from August 8th to 20th.
The last edition of this tournament was conducted two years ago in Changsha - Hunan, China, and was called the FIBA Asia Championship.
This year's tournament has been rechristened the FIBA Asia Cup, and features sixteen teams, including Oceanian powerhouses New Zealand and Australia for the first time.
The group stages will be played in a round robin format, comprising four groups of four teams each.
While India is placed in Group A; Iraq, China, Philippines, and Qatar are in Group B; Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Korea, and New Zealand in Group C; and Japan, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, and Australia in Group D.

Each team will play the other teams in their group once, and the top three teams from each group will advance to the second phase.

In the second phase, the teams will be divided into two groups of six teams each (Groups E and F). The top four teams from each of these groups will advance to the quarter finals.
Last year, Iran won the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 in comprehensive fashion, while Jordan finished third. India faced both teams over the course of that Championship - Jordan in the group stages and Iran in the quarterfinals - and lost both games despite battling hard.

Iran also finished third at the FIBA Asia Championship 2015, beating India in the group stages.
The FIBA rankings place Iran and Jordan at 25th and 28th respectively. Nevertheless, since the top three from each group qualify for the second phase, India (rank 53) only has to put in a strong performance against Syria (rank 72) to secure progression.
A surprise upset over either Jordan or Iran cannot be discounted, as the Indian team has gone from strength to strength in the last few years.
The team put in a strong performance at the FIBA Asia Challenge, advancing to the knockout stages and defeating Chinese Taipei to finish seventh in the tournament.

India had also beaten China, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan in the group stages. Advancing from the second phase to the knockout stages is likely to pose a tougher challenge.
China enters the tournament as defending champions, having won the FIBA Asia Championship 2015 on home soil; while the inclusion of Australia and New Zealand in the Asia Cup will only enhance the quality of opposition and level of competition.