The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas will learn its path toward a possible FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 qualification today when the organisation hosts the Official Draw Ceremony.

FIBA will host the World Cup 2023 Qualifiers at its headquarters in Switzerland as preparations begin in earnest for the event that will take place in multiple countries for the first time - Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.

In the Americas group, The Bahamas will be one of 16 countries vying for seven spots.

The 16 teams include the 12 teams from the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 competition and the four teams that earned their way through pre-qualifiers. Those teams have been divided into eight pots based on geographical principles combined with FIBA World Rankings. The Bahamas is grouped in Pot 8 with Cuba.

They played their way into the competition after an undefeated record at the Americas Pre-Qualifiers in El Salvador in July.

The Bahamas finished 3-0 with wins over Cuba, Costa Rica and El Salvador.

The Bahamas opened the tournament in thrilling fashion as they rallied from an 18-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat Cuba 89-88.

In game two, The Bahamas dominated Costa Rica 75-51 and concluded with an 87-79 win over El Salvador.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 competition system consists of six windows played over 15 months across the four regions of Africa, Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe.

Each qualification window lasts nine days, with the windows running from November 2021 to February 2023.

A total of 80 countries are left vying to be among the 32 teams at the 2023 World Cup.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 will qualify teams directly for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or through four of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.