Indonesia's Opportunity To Qualify For The FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Final Round Is Small

JAKARTA The opportunity for the Indonesian Basketball national team to qualify for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup finals has narrowed after two defeats at the qualifying stage.

Indonesia, which is in Group A, lost its first to Thailand 56-73. They were then beaten by Australia 51-106 in the second match at the Indonesia Arena, February 25, 2024.

The coach of the Indonesian Basketball National Team, Milos Pejic, said this result made Indonesia need to be realistic. Especially in history, Indonesia has only escaped once, even then because it was appointed as the host.

"How many times have you played in the Asian Cup? How many times have you been? Never qualifyed for the Asian Cup. Never. Only as hosts. We have to be really realistic. We talked about the real goal," he said.

The chances of qualifying for the finals are very small because Indonesia is in a group with strong teams. Apart from Thailand and Australia, Indonesia will also face South Korea.

Milos said that with young players, the Indonesian national team could only hope at the Thailand SEA Games which will take place next year.

"The SEA Games is the biggest target for Perbasi, or for the Indonesian national team, the biggest target. You can't take a gold medal in the Asian Cup, but at the SEA Games it's possible," he said.

Indonesia is actually still undergoing four matches in qualifying Group A. Two of the four matches against Korea on November 21, 2024 and February 23, 2025, respectively.

Meanwhile, two other matches are hosting Thailand on November 24, 2024 and away to Australia on February 20, 2025.