A downtown exhibition match got the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Nanjing Leg, off to a flying start this last Saturday, 31 August, as 32 teams from all over the world limbered up to do battle in eight Chinese cities.
In Nanjing to compete in the initial stage of the competition are the basketball teams of Brazil, Greece, Montinegro and New Zealand (Group F; see below). Players in the mens’ teams from Brazil and Montinegro took part in the exhibition match held at Hexi’s Wanda plaza in the west of Nanjing.
The four teams will face each other as follows, at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park Gymnasium in Nanjing’s Pukou District.
3 September
16:00 Montenegro vs New Zealand
20:00 Brazil vs Greece
5 September
16:00 Brazil vs Montinegro
20:00 Greece vs New Zealand
After these initial matches, teams get a chance to see a little more of their host country. The winners from groups G and H will come to Nanjing and play each other on 7 and 9 September.
The remaining matches are being played at Wuhan Sports Arena, Foshan International Sports and Cultural Centre, Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre, Dongguan Basketball Centre, Guangzhou Gymnasium, Shanghai Oriental Sports Centre and Beijing’s Wukesong Arena .
The full line up of teams and their groupings is as follows.
- Group A: Côte d’Ivoire, Poland, Venezuela, China
- Group B: Russia, Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria
- Group C: Spain, Iran, Puerto Rico, Tunisia
- Group D: Angola, Philippines, Italy, Serbia
- Group E: Turkey, Czech Republic, USA, Japan
- Group F: Greece, New Zealand, Brazil, Montenegro
- Group G: Dominica, France, Germany, Jordan
- Group H: Canada, Senegal, Lithuania, Australia
Tickets for the Nanjing leg of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup can be purchased via the link that appears in the version of this story on The Nanjinger website.