JOHOR BAHRU (FIBA Asia U16 Championship) / PUNE (FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women): Two cities very close to two different major business centres of the world will be the cynosure of all eyes towards the end of this month, holding the key to the future and fortunes of basketball in Asia.

Johor Bahru, located in the Southeastern tip of Malaysia but only about 30 minutes across the sea from the buzzing Singapore, will host the FIBA Asia U16 Championship from November 19-27, 2009.

Pune, the erstwhile historical capital of Maratha king Shivaji, situated very close to India's financial capital Mumbai will play host to the FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women from Nov 30-Dec 6, 2009.

The two Championships, first of their kind in Asia, will also double up as the qualifier tournaments for the inaugural 2010 FIBA U17 World Championships, with the top two teams from each competition earning the right to represent FIBA Asia.

The finalists at Johor Bahru will book their ticket to 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship scheduled to be held in Hamburg, Germany from July 2-11, 2010.

The top two teams from Pune will represent FIBA Asia in the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women scheduled to be played in France from July 16-25, 2010.

"FIBA has done away with the U21 World Championships, but as a welcome move introduced U17 World Championships. This has provided an opportunity for all of us zones to conduct U16 events in order for the teams to qualify for the World event," explained FIBA Asia Secretary General Dato' Yeoh Choo Hock.

"I think with the introduction of U16 events, we have covered all levels of the sport," he added.

"These U16 events serve twin purposes. On the one hand, they provide an ideal platform for countries which are already involved in development of basketball among youngsters to showcase their program. And on the other hand, it encourages more and more countries to take up the development among younger age groups," he said.

"This is an exciting opportunity - for the countries to display their young basketball talents and for all of us to watch them," said FIBA Asia president Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al-Thani.

"These events consolidate our efforts to popularize basketball a lot more than it is now. These U16 events should bring more people into the sport. We hope to draw more and more youngsters to basketball through these events," he added.

"These events should fill the gap that was felt by many countries who are already involved in grass root development," said FIBA Asia Deputy Secretary General Hagop Khajirian.

"These events will act as a forum for young talent. They will also add a new dimension to international exposure of young basketballers in our region," added Khajirian, who is also the Chairman of the FIBA Asia Media and Marketing Sub-Committee.

FIBA Asia