The 26th edition of the FIBA Asia Championship, the successor to the original Asian Basketball Confederation tournament, unwraps in Wuhan, China on September 15.

Only the winner of the 11-day competitions that feature 16 countries earns an automatic slot on the 12-team men?s basketball cast in next year?s London Olympics.

There are four groups of four teams each in the round-robin preliminary phase.

India, South Korea, Lebanon and Malaysia are in Group A; The Islamic Republic of Iran, the two-time defending FIBA Asia titlist, heads Group B along with Chinese Taipei, Qatar and Uzbekistan.

Making up Group C are Indonesia, Japan, Jordan and Syria. In Group D are Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines and host People?s Republic of China.

The top three teams in each preliminary group will advance to the second round. It features two groups of six teams each ? A1, A2, A3, B1, B2 and B3 in Group E and C1, C2, C3, D1, D2 and D3 in Group F ? in another round-robin play. Results from the preliminary round are carried over to the next round, however.

Thereafter comes the quarterfinal stage with a single-loss knockout format. It will be held on September 23. Winning is crucial here as it will determine which teams make it to the Final Four (or semifinals) or are relegated to the classification round for fifth to eighth places.

The quarterfinal matchups ? E1 vs. F4, E2 vs. F3, F2 vs. E3 and F1 vs. E4 ? will also be a pivotal factor.

The semifinals, which will be played on September 24, will have the following pairings: F2 vs. E3 winner meets F4 vs. E1 winner while E2 vs. F3 winner clashes with E4 vs. F1 winner.

The semifinal survivors subsequently will duke it out for the gold medal on September 25, a game that will decide the lone automatic berth to the 2012 London Olympics.

The silver and bronze medalists, on the other hand, will still have a chance to make it through the back door during a special pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in July next year. Three wildcard spots are at stake in the tourney that features the also-rans from the various zone qualifying competitions (FIBA Asia, Oceania, Africa, Tournament of the Americas and EuroBasket) this month.

The Philippines, which last won the FIBA Asia (then known as the ABC) crown in January 1986 in Ipoh, Malaysia with a team built around naturalized players Dennis Still and Jeff Moore (note that another American, Chip Engelland, failed to make the roster because FIBA rules allowed only two naturalized players per team during the time), faces a herculean task to regain the crown despite favorable draw in the first two rounds.

Serbian coach Rajko Toroman?s charges are expected to beat at least Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in Group D preliminary action to join China with a carried-over 1-1 record (and 2-0 if they somehow upset the Chinese) in Group F of the six-team second round.

Joining China and the Philippines in Group F will most likely be Jordan, Japan and Syria from the Group C prelims (Indonesia is not expected to advance past the first stage).

The second round?s Group E is expected to be composed of Korea, Lebanon and India (or Malaysia) from the Group A first-round play and Iran, Chinese Taipei and Qatar (or Uzbekistan) from the Group B prelims.

A victory over Syria will assure the Filipinos of the No. 4 spot out of Group F ? a not-so-favorable scenario as their knockout quarterfinal opponent will probably be Iran, if not South Korea or Lebanon.

Beating Syria and Japan will push our boys to No. 3 and taking down Lebanon as well will elevate them to No. 2.

In any case, the Philippines will need to beat either Iran, South Korea or Lebanon in the quarterfinals to earn a Final Four ticket.

It will take more than hard work for the Filipinos to accomplish the feat. Our Fathers and Hail Marys from us hoop fans will greatly be appreciated by Chris Tiu and company.

Prayers can move mountains. There?s no mountain high enough not to be able to conquer.

Go Philippines!