MANILA, Philippines – Indonesia will co-host the FIBA World Cup in 2023 but will not play in it.

China denied Indonesia a spot in the World Cup after cruising to a 108-58 blowout in their knockout playoff to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta on Monday, July 18.

Together with the Philippines and Japan, Indonesia earned the hosting rights for the global hoops showdown but needed a top-eight finish in the Asia Cup to automatically qualify as required by FIBA.

Ranked 95th in the world and 19th in Asia, Indonesia has never seen action in the World Cup.

China, though, played spoiler in the Timnas’ World Cup bid as it grabbed a 29-11 lead at the end of the opening period on the way to the 50-point rout.

Quan Gu led the Chinese with 23 points and 7 rebounds, while former NBA player Zhou Qi delivered 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Three more China players scored in double figures: Mingxuan Hu (14), Rui Zhao (13), and Jie Xu (11).

Naturalized big man Marques Bolden put Indonesia on his back with 21 points and 6 rebounds, but the rest of the squad could only do so much against the mighty Chinese, the winningest Asia Cup squad with 16 titles.

The Timnas also failed to qualify for the World Cup through the Asian Qualifiers as they bowed out in the first round after going winless in six games. – Rappler.com