The 2009FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the biennial Asian continental championship and also served as the FIBA Asiaqualifying tournament for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from August 6 to 16, 2009 in Tianjin, China. Iran managed to win its second straight FIBA Asia Championship by defeating China 70–52 in the final, although China's premier NBA superstar Yao Ming did not play due to an injury in the 2008-09 NBA season, which caused him to not play in that year's FIBA Asia Championship for China. Jordan defeated Lebanon 80–66 in the bronze medal game to claim the third and final automatic bid for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Both Iran and Jordan qualified for the FIBA World Championship for the first time while China qualified for the eighth time in the last nine World Championship tournaments, this time without center Yao Ming. Lebanon failed to qualify automatically for a third consecutive world championship, although FIBA later awarded them a wild card to the tournament. Iranian center Hamed Haddadi was named Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive tournament after leading Iran to its second consecutive title by averaging 15.8 points, 13.1 rebounds, and 4 blocks per game during the tournament.
Qualification
According to the FIBA Asia rules, each zone had two places, and the hosts and Stanković Cup champion were automatically qualified. The other four places are allocated to the zones according to performance in the 2008 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup.
East Asia
Gulf
Middle Asia
Southeast Asia
West Asia
*
*, which finished fourth behind Korea, Japan and China in the East Asian qualifiers, was given a wild card entry into the championship following the withdrawal of Gulf representatives Bahrain. Qualifying was done via the 2008 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup where the champion automatically qualified, and from different FIBA Asia sub-zones. As hosts, China automatically qualified to the championship. In West and Middle Asia, no actual qualifying tournament was done as only a few teams on those sub-zones registered to participate in a qualifying tournament. With the withdrawal of Bahrain, FIBA Asia chose Chinese Taipei as the final participant to the 16-team field. This is the first championship where Hong Kong would not participate; they were consistent participant since the inaugural tournament in Manila. Only Hong Kong and Syria did not return from the FIBA Asia Championship 2007. They were replaced by Uzbekistan, returning to the tournament after a four-year absence, and Sri Lanka, making its first appearance since 1995. This is also the third time in the 21st century in which the championships were held in the People's Republic of China; Shanghai was the host for 2001, and Harbin was the host in 2003.
Each team has a roster of twelve players. Only one naturalized player per team is allowed by FIBA.
Preliminary round
Group A
Team
Pld
W
L
PF
PA
PD
Pts
3
3
0
286
184
+102
6
3
2
1
249
169
+80
5
3
1
2
291
218
+73
4
3
0
3
130
385
−255
3
Group B
Team
Pld
W
L
PF
PA
PD
Pts
3
3
0
247
174
+73
6
3
2
1
242
200
+42
5
3
1
2
166
231
−65
4
3
0
3
203
253
−50
3
Group C
Team
Pld
W
L
PF
PA
PD
Pts
3
3
0
287
166
+121
6
3
2
1
233
224
+9
5
3
1
2
192
223
−31
4
3
0
3
191
290
−99
3
Group D
Team
Pld
W
L
PF
PA
PD
Pts
3
3
0
268
181
+87
6
3
2
1
298
158
+140
5
3
1
2
173
250
−77
4
3
0
3
146
296
−150
3
Second round
The results and the points of the matches between the same teams that were already played during the preliminary round shall be taken into account for the second round.
Group E
Team
Pld
W
L
PF
PA
PD
Pts
5
5
0
436
328
+108
10
5
4
1
380
340
+40
9
5
3
2
374
367
+7
8
5
2
3
379
350
+29
7
5
1
4
371
424
−53
6
5
0
5
277
408
−131
5
Group F
Team
Pld
W
L
PF
PA
PD
Pts
5
5
0
408
327
+81
10
5
4
1
418
363
+55
9
5
3
2
421
312
+109
8
5
2
3
352
346
+6
7
5
1
4
338
410
−72
6
5
0
5
265
444
−179
5
Classification 13th–16th
Semifinals
15th place
13th place
Classification 9th–12th
Semifinals
11th place
9th place
Final round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals 5th–8th
Semifinals
7th place
5th place
3rd place
Final
Final standing
Rank
Team
Record
9–0
8–1
7–2
4
5–4
5
5–4
6
4–5
7
6–3
8
4–5
9
4–4
10
3–5
11
2–6
12
1–7
13
2–3
14
1–4
15
1–4
16
0–5
Iran, China and Jordan qualify to the 2010 FIBA World Championship outright.
Lebanon was later invited as a wild card to the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Rasheim Wright
Aleksandr Kozlov
Yi Jianlian
Samad Nikkhah Bahrami
Saad Abdulrahman
Jackson Vroman
Alexandr Tyutyunik
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi
Kosuke Takeuchi
Lee Jung-suk
Shayee Mohanna
Lee Hsueh-lin
Younis Khamis
Kelly Purwanto