DOHA (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - It's been 10 years since Qatar went on their fabulous run at the FIBA Asia Championship in Doha and thrilled the home fans by reaching the podium.

The hosts won seven of their eight games and finished third to clinch a spot in the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup and once in Hamamatsu, Japan, they had some terrific moments in a 'group of death' against Greece, Lithuania, Brazil, Turkey and Australia.

On opening night against then European champions Greece, Qatar opened up a 26-12 lead three minutes into the second quarter but ended up falling, 84-64.

Abdulrahman Saad, Erfan Ali Saeed, Khalid Suliman, Daoud Musa, Mohammed Saleem were all in that side and are still playing for the national team.

They are among those named in the squad for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship that is to be played in Changsha, China, from 23 September to 3 October.

Qatar will play in Group D against Chinese Taipei, Lebanon and Kazakhstan and should they progress, tough games will await them in the second phase of the competition as Korea, China, Jordan and Singapore are all in Group C.

The second period of preparation will be in the Philippines in September and we will play five friendlies against strong opposition. - Abdul Hadi

The winners of the FIBA Asia Championship will clinch a spot in the Rio de Janeiro Gaes and the sides that finish second and third will play in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

Qatar have announce they are to have three phases of preparations for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, in three different countries.

The first stage is to be held in Lithuania and will tip off at the start of August.

Qatar will then travel to the Philippines at the beginning of September while the third phase will be in China.

In the Philippines, Qatar should be able to gauge their potential.

Ahmed Abdul Hadi, director of national teams for basketball, spoke about Qatar's preparations.

"We will be looking to have confrontations against sides that are commensurate with the teams that we will play in our group at the beginning of the Asia Championship."

FIBA