And then, it's down to four. The battle for Asian basketball supremacy reaches the penultimate day with the semifinal round of the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, Hunan, China.
China, Iran, Philippines and Japan all survived grueling rounds of elimination and vanquished their quarterfinal foes to book not only their spots in the final four but also their places in the last Olympic qualifying tournament next year in case they fail to bag an automatic berth to Rio in this particular competition.
Iran vs. China:
Who would expect that these two Goliaths will face off before the gold medal match? Picked as the top two favorites to win the gold, Iran and China will try to eliminate each other from the championship equation when they lock horns starting at 8:00 p.m (GMT +8) at the Changsha Social Work College's gymnasium in Hunan.
China will be coming into the match with an undefeated slate and brimming with confidence after their obliterated India 108-54 in their quarterfinal match-up. Iran, on the other hand, had to fend off some rallies from the Koreans to secure a 75-62 win on Thursday.
Iran could have avoided a collision course with China in the semis, had they come up as the winner in the game against the Philippines in the second round. Nevertheless, Iran is determined to overcome the towering Chinese along with questionable officiating and punch their spot in the finals.
Philippine vs. Japan:
It appears two is not enough for the Philippines and Japan to settle their score. The Filipinos may have already defeated the Samurais twice in a span of two months, but they are aware that nabbing a third win against Japan will be the toughest of all.
After grinding past Lebanon in the quarters with some clutch shooting from Andray Blatche and Jason Castro William, the Philippines faces a familiar foe in the Japanese, who stunned Group F no.2 seed Qatar 81-67 on Thursday.
Fleet-footed big man Joji Takeuchi remains Japan's best offensive weapon, but steady production from Takatoshi Furukawa and Yuta Tabuse could spell trouble for the Filipinos. Then again, the Filipinos aren't the favorites for nothing as they obviously boast a deeper roster and two dynamic scorers in Blatche and William.
Tip off for the Iran vs. China semifinal match starts at 7:30 p.m (GMT +8) while the Philippines vs. Japan follows at 10:00 p.m live on TV5, Sports Stream, Live Basketball TV and Sports.ph.
FIBA Asia 2015: Philippines vs. China Live Stream, Replay, Boxscores & Play-by-Play Updates- Click Here