KUALA LUMPUR (Mageshwaran's AsiaScope) - The FIBA Asia calendar for the year opens in less than two days from now, with what is the first international event for national teams in the global FIBA family. Equally notable is the fact that the 5th FIBA Asia Cup to be played in Wuhan, China from July 11-19 also comes less than two months before the biggest basketball event in the world - the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup to be played in Spain from Aug 30-Sept 14.

Given that background, there will certainly be no lack of intensity, interest and intrigue in the way two teams among the fray in Wuhan - reigning FIBA Asia Champions Iran and the Philippines, the team that lost in the gold medal game at last year's 27th FIBA Asia Championship in Manila) - will approach the competition.

Equally interesting and intense will be the competition that many in the rest of the fray will pose to these two teams - to test if they can really present the best representation for FIBA Asia.

Three players are sure to catch the eye in this respect - all of them young, but none of them raw.

Philippines' June Mar Fajardo, Iran's Behnam Yakhchali and China's very own Zhou Qi all head to Wuhan to answer one simple question: "How ready are they to cope with the rigors of international competition."

Of course, Wuhan will not be a 'cutting-the-teeth' experience for any of them. It may be more apt to call the FIBA Asia Cup a 'coming-of-age' opportunity for all three.

Fajardo is the most accomplished of the three, having been crowned MVP of the 2013-14 PBA Season in only his sophomore year in Asia's first pro basketball league. No small or mean achievement indeed for the 2.11m Cebu alumnus to become the first center to win this award after almost a decade.

On that night, along with the more glamorous MVP award, Fajardo won another award that is the key to Gilas Pilipinas' presence in Wuhan and subsequently Spain. He was named the Most Improved Player!

His importance comes in perspective when the two awards are connected.

Yakhchali, unlike Fajardo, didn't win any individual awards but played a crucial role in Petrochimi retaining their title in the high-voltage Iranian Super League.

The biggest praise for Yakhchali came from his better-known Petro teammate - now also a compatriot on the Iran team - Arsalan Kazemi.

Kazemi, who himself sacrificed a contract in the NBA to be in the reckoning for a place in Team Melli's roster gushed: "I don't think we could have won the title without this youngster (Yakhchali). Certainly not the kind of run we had."

The challenge in front of Yakhchali is humongous, touted as the Shahrekord youngster is as a successor to the luminous legacy of Samad Bahrami.

The latter is not getting any younger, but is Yakhchali the rightful heir to that glorious inheritance? Wuhan may throw open the chances for answering that question in the affirmative.

Zhou Qi did not win a major award in the CBA nor did he feature in any championship team. Neither is expected of a teenager barely 18 years of age. But it's a no-brainer that Zhou Qi will certainly be one of the biggest draws in Wuhan.

He will have the first crack at taking on the might of the top centers in the region - one of them is against no less than Hamed Hadadi and another against Fajardo himself. There are of course other established names in Marcus Douthit and Quincy Davis and equally young ones in Ahmad Al Dwairi who all present the perfect opening test for Zhou Qi’s talent as well as temperament.

If Zhou Qi is indeed the next Yao - which certainly is not the way to go about thinking of this youngster - this may well be the perfect time to start showing signs of it.

Success in international basketball would never have been simpler and tougher at the same time for these youngsters.

Simpler because if you can prove your mettle on this Wuhan stage it gets proven in ample measure. Tougher because you’ll have to prove it on THIS stage.

So long…

S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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