Australia beat China in the final at Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium, Ahmedabad; defend continental crown, third U18 Asia Cup title

FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2026: Australia beat China in final to defend continental crown in Ahmedabad

Australia outscored 11-time champions China in three of the four quarters to win the final 89-79. India’s campaign ended in the qualification playoffs.

Australia beat the People’s Republic of China 89-79 in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2026 final to defend their title at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

The Australian basketball team outscored 11-time champions China - the most successful side in the tournament - in three of the four quarters to win the match.

Jai Fa’ale top-scored for Australia with 19 points, while China’s Yizhaojie Zhang scored a game-high 20 points.

Australia opened their campaign with a big 102-32 victory over Thailand before overcoming the Philippines and Chinese Taipei to top Group A with six points after three wins.

They then defeated the Islamic Republic of Iran 90-69 in the quarter-finals before cruising past the Republic of Korea 111-74 in the semis to book their place in the final and win their third title.

Meanwhile, the Indian basketball team ’s FIBA U18 Asia Cup campaign ended early after failing to make the quarter-finals.

India opened their Group D campaign with heavy defeats against Japan (91-65) and the Republic of Korea (90-61) but kept their hopes alive with a win (82-61) over Kazakhstan. India finished third in their group behind South Korea and Japan.

As per the FIBA U18 Asia Cup format, the top three teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage. Group winners progressed directly to the quarter-finals, while the second- and third-placed teams entered qualification playoffs for the last-eight stage.

India’s campaign eventually ended in the qualification to quarter-finals playoffs, where they went down 83-66 to Iran.

The 28th edition of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup featured 16 teams divided into four groups of four in the biennial international under-18 basketball competition.

The FIBA U18 Asia Cup returned to India after 22 years, since Bengaluru hosted the event in 2004.

Kolkata had also staged the competition in 1998, a tournament remembered as the international debut of Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming.

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