Fiba Basketball World Cup: Japan closing in on Olympic qualification, but China ready to pounce on any slip-up
- Japan will seal their place at the Paris Games if they beat Cabo Verde in their final game on Saturday
- China must beat the Philippines in final game to have any chance of grabbing spot
Japan have taken a giant step towards Olympic qualification at the Basketball World Cup, while South Sudan and Egypt also gave themselves a chance of a Paris Games berth.
Half of the World Cup’s 32 teams have already been eliminated from title contention, but seven Olympic places are still up for grabs at the tournament.
The highest-placed finishers from each of Asia, Africa and Oceania will all qualify for Paris, along with the top two teams from both Europe and the Americas.
World Cup co-hosts Japan were the only one of the six Asian teams to take a win into the classification round, and they now have two after roaring back to beat Venezuela 86-77 in Okinawa.
Japan were trailing by nine points heading into the fourth quarter and head coach Tom Hovasse said “it took guts” for them to keep going.
“Great win for Japan basketball,” he said. “We’re still learning and getting better but these are the games that it takes to continue on this process and continue getting better and better.