Gilas legend Gabe Norwood joins basketball enthusiasts during the opening of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Fan Zone at the SM MOA Music Hall in Pasay City on August 25, 2023. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News
MANILA -- Gilas Pilipinas icon Gabe Norwood is one of the special guests of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers Draw that will take place on Tuesday at the Ezdan Palace Hotel in Doha, Qatar.
FIBA announced that together with Iran basketball legend Hamed Haddadi, Norwood will help carry out the draw.
Norwood played for Gilas Pilipinas for over 15 years, and was a crucial part of the national teams that placed second in the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup to qualify in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
The Philippines bowed to Haddadi and Iran in that final attended by nearly 20,000 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena. Haddadi torched Gilas for 29 points and 16 rebounds in an 85-71 win.
Norwood went on to play for Gilas in the World Cup, where he drew attention for his posterization of Luis Scola in their game against Argentina. He also played for the Philippines in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.
Haddadi, meanwhile, is making his first public appearance since the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where he played his last game for Iran.
Together, they will help the 24 participating teams learn their respective groupings and opponents for the Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, whose first window will be played in February 2024.
Sixteen teams that took part in the previous Asia Cup will see action in the Qualifiers, namely Australia, Lebanon, New Zealand, Jordan, Iran, South Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and India.
Palestine, Iraq, Qatar, UAE, Guam, Thailand, Mongolia, and Hong Kong completed the cast following successful runs in the Pre-Qualifiers, which ran from June 2022 to February 2023.
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