Greek Australians will have plenty to celebrate (and possibly be torn between) in August, as the teams representing both their homes have managed to advance through to the Basketball World Championships that will take place in China.

The tournament will begin on 31 August and will end on 15 September, with the hopes that at least one of the two countries (if not both) will manage to go all the way.

The Greek team had a tougher time getting to the final round of the competition, as they were in the European Zone of the qualifiers and were thus forced to take on stronger opposition.

The Greeks participated in Group L of the second round of the qualifying stage, joined by Serbia, Germany, Georgia, Israel and Estonia.

Greece topped the group comfortably, claiming 11 wins from 12 games and only losing one (a heavy 84-61 loss in Serbia), with coach Athanasios Skourtopoulos giving game time to 30 players during the qualifying round.

Meanwhile, the Boomers were in the Asian qualifiers where they were forced to go through two rounds before advancing.

Initially, they were placed in Group B alongside the Philippines, Japan and the Chinese Taipei, where they easily came out first with five wins and a single loss.

In the second round, they were once again joined by Japan and the Philippines, but this time Kazakhstan, Iran and Qatar were added to the group.

That made little difference though, as Andrej Lemanis’ men made short work of the majority of their opponents, qualifying as first with a 12-2 record.

Now the two teams are waiting in anticipation for the draw of 16 March that will be held in Shenzhen Arena with the presence of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and popular singer Jason Derulo.

Greece are considered as one of the favourites of the entire tournament, with their efforts being reinforced by some players from the American tournament, namely Giannis Antetokounmpo and even Kostas Koufos.

Thanasis Skourtopoulos will have a hard time in the selection of the final 12 players that will represent Greece since it was demonstrated during the qualifiers that there is a large pool of talent where anyone can be called up to play and they can perform just as well as any other.

Meanwhile, Australia’s odds aren’t that good and will be largely dependent on the inspirations of a few individuals such as Ben Simmons, Matthew Dellavedova, Paty Mills and Aron Baynes to make it through the final rounds.