The men's qualification tournament for the 2029 Asian Basketball Cup has kicked off in Almaty. In the first round, Sri Lanka and Palestine secured convincing victories, according to infohub.kz.
The first game saw the Maldives take on Sri Lanka at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace. The Sri Lankans dominated all quarters of the island derby, winning 107:65 (33:17, 27:15, 23:14, 24:19).
While the Maldives lost by 42 points, Kyrgyzstan trailed Palestine by 41. The game ended 110:69 (25:18, 37:14, 29:15, 19:22). Kyrgyzstan did win the final quarter, with their leader Nazim Adilbekov scoring 33 points. Omar Suleiman was the top scorer for Palestine with 23 points.
Based on the first round results, the top three teams that will advance to the next qualifying round seem already determined. It remains to be seen in which order Palestine, Sri Lanka, and Kazakhstan will finish.
Kazakhstan will play their first match against the Maldives tomorrow. In the other game, the leaders, Palestine and Sri Lanka, will face off.
The tournament in Kazakhstan, along with parallel competitions in the UAE, Mongolia, and Malaysia, is the first stage of the multi-step qualification for the 2029 Asian Cup. The top three teams from each group will advance to the second qualifying stage.
From November 23 to December 1 this year, eight teams will be determined to join the 16 teams already qualified for the final tournament of the 2025 Asian Cup in the third qualifying stage.