GILAS Pilipinas has qualified to play for next year’s 2024 Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament following their big World Cup win on Saturday night against China.
Fiba released the rankings for the classification round where the Philippines ended up at 24th place with a 1-4 win-loss record - enough to qualify for next year’s OQT - thanks to the 96-75 win over old rival China.
READ: Gilas drubs China to end rocky World Cup campaign on high note
Based on Fiba’s rankings, Gilas made it to the fourth and final tier for the OQT which is the “16 following next best ranked teams” category or the next best 16 placers in the World Cup that has not secured a place in the Olympics.
According to Fiba, the Philippines finished 13th among the teams that have not secured direct qualification to the 2024 Olympics, giving Gilas another shot at making it in the Paris Olympics via the OQT.
The close games that Gilas had in the first round - coupled by the big win over China - apparently helped the Nationals gain the OQT berth.
READ: Chot Reyes steps down as Gilas coach
After South Sudan ruled Group M of the classification round with a 3-2 win-loss mark, the Philippines ended up in a tie with Angola and China on 1-4 win-loss records. The host team, however, got second place due to its -21 point differential, compared to the -42 of Angola and -94 of China.
Interestingly, Gilas made it to the Olympic qualifiers as the 24th placer with a 1-4 record while Mexico was 25th despite finishing 2-3. Why? It's because the Philippines finished second in Group M while Mexico ended up third in Group N.
That finish guaranteed Gilas a place among the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, or 24th spots as the second placers in each of the four groups of the classification round. The Philippines ended up at 24th being the lone team among second placers Finland, New Zealand, and Lebanon to finish with a 1-4 win-loss record.
The OQT though will be a more difficult competition since the Philippines is in line to face other teams from different continents including Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
However, the 24th place finish was definitely better from the 2019 campaign in which Gilas Pilipinas placed dead last in the first tournament that saw an expanded field of 32 teams.
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