The 2019 IWBF Asia Oceania Championships are due to begin tomorrow in Pattaya ©IWBF

Five berths for next year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo will be on offer at the 2019 International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) Asia Oceania Championships in Thai city Pattaya, which starts tomorrow. 

The IWBF Asia Oceania zone has four spots available for men and three for women at Tokyo 2020, with one spot in each already allocated to Japan as the host nation.

Fourteen men's teams and an event-record eight women's teams will compete at the IWBF Asia Oceania Championships, taking place at the Eastern National Sports Centre and are scheduled to conclude on December 7.

In the men's competition, the six top-ranked teams - Australia, China, Iran, Japan, South Korea and Thailand - will play in Division A, which will be a single round-robin to determine first to sixth place in the ranking.

The other eight teams - Afghanistan, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia - will be drawn into two pools of four in Division B.

Afghanistan, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are in Pool A, while India, Iraq, Malaysia and the Philippines are in Pool B.

They will also play in a single round-robin to determine placing, followed by crossovers, semi-finals and then a final to determine the top two teams in Division B.

Once Division B has ended, the top two teams will become the seventh- and eighth-ranked teams in Division A to make up the quarter-final pairings.

Teams ranked ninth to 14th will play games to decide lower placings.

Fourteen teams will compete in the men's competition ©IWBF
Fourteen teams will compete in the men's competition ©IWBF

A similar format will be conducted in the women’s competition.

The top three-ranked teams in the region - Australia, China, and Japan - will play a double round-robin in Division A to arrive at the first-to-third place ranking.

The five other sides - Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Iran and Thailand - play in a round-robin in Division B. 

The winner of Division B will then join Division A to be the fourth-ranked team to make up the semi-final pairings. 

Teams ranked fifth to eighth will play games to decide lower placings.

The Opening Ceremony and first game of the event will be between the men's teams of hosts Thailand and China tomorrow.

Australia successfully defended their men's title at the last edition of the IWBF Asia Oceania Championships, held in Beijing in 2017.

The Rollers beat Iran 80-54 in the final.

Hosts China overcame Australia 57-46 to retain their women's title.