GILAS Pilipinas is bracketed in Group A with Korea and Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand and Indonesia in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.
Gilas will be competing against its Asian rival for many years as well as those in Southeast Asia in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers being introduced for the first time ever.
The draw ceremony was held in Bangalore, India on Saturday night with no less than former Gilas Pilipinas cager Jimmy Alapag attending the rites. Alapag even drew the Philippines in Group A.
The new format of qualification for the Fiba Asia Cup is similar to that of the Fiba World Cup in which the 24 teams grouped into six will play a home-and-away format to be played in November 2019, February 2020, and November 2020.
The top two teams in each group will automatically advance into the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup with the next four teams to be determined through a quarterfinal tournament in February 2021 among the third placers in all six groups.
Group B is comprised of China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and Malaysia, while Group C will have defending champion Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Guam.
Group D has Bahrain, Lebanon, India, and Iraq, as Group E will have Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
Group F has Jordan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, and Palestine.
So far, Philippine basketball officials have yet to bare their plans for the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers as the focus is mostly on the 2019 Fiba Basketball World Cup.
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