FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying 2023: Indian men's basketball team's schedule changed as Korea and Taipei opt out

Korea and Chinese Taipei have pulled out of the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament Asia 2023 taking place in Damascus. It is due to the violence in Syria, which has raised security concerns among the participants. Therefore, these two countries have decided to opt out of the contest at the last moment.

As a result of Korea and Chinese Taipei excluding themselves, there is now a significant change in India's schedule. The Indian men's basketball is gearing up to open their campaign in order to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics versus the hosts, Syria, on Saturday.

As per the recent grouping, India will now play against Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Saudia Arabia, Indonesia, and the hosts of the tournament in the coming week. Earlier, they were scheduled to face Bahrain, Taipei, and Korea.

After the massive change in the scheduling, the team that finishes first in the Asian leg of the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament will progress to play the final FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament scheduled for 2024.

The official press release, after Korea and Chinese Taipei opted out of the tournament, stated:

"The FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2023 Syria will be played with six teams, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, and hosts Syria. The teams will play against each other in a single round-robin format. The best team of the group will qualify for the Olympics Qualifying Tournaments."

---

India's squad and schedule for FIBA Olympic

Notably, India is the fourth-best team in the tournament with a rating of 82. Meanwhile, Kazakhastan leads the table. Moreover, it will be the Indian men's basketball team's second Olympics. They finished 12th in the 1980 Moscow Games.

Under the leadership of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Palpreet Singh Brar, Arvind Kumar, Prashant Singh Rawat, Sahaij Pratap Singh Sekhon, Amjyot Singh, Muin Bek Hafeez, Mirant Bharatbhai Italia, Pranav Prince, Harsh Dagar, Amaan Sandhu, and Aravind Annadurai are ready to leave an indelible mark.

Here is India's schedule for the event:

Date	Day	Match	Time
August 12	Saturday	Syria vs India	10:30 PM
August 13	Sunday	India vs Indonesia	8:00 PM
August 14	Monday	India vs Kazakhstan	5:30 PM
August 16	Wednesday	Saudi Arabia vs India	5:30 PM
August 17	Thursday	India vs Bahrain	5:30 PM