GILAS Pilipinas Women 3x3 team eyes a podium finish in the FIBA Asia Cup 2026, as it opens its campaign in the main draw Saturday against an inspired Tonga unit at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.
The fifth-ranked Filipinas are seeded outright in the preliminary round and are bracketed with defending champion Australia and Tonga, which made history the other day by sweeping their qualifiers against Maldives (13-4) and Macau (15-7) to qualify in the main draw for the first time ever.
Last year, Gilas Women stunned powerhouse Mongolia in the quarterfinals, 19-15, in a memorable game where the Philippines had to make do with only three players in Mikka Cacho, Kaye Pingol, and Jhaz Joson following a partial ACL tear suffered by Camille Clarin in the prelims.
The Filipinas went to lose against China in the battle for third, 21-11.
Of that quartet, only Cacho returns this year, teaming up with international veteran Afril Bernardino, UAAP MVP Kacey Dela Rosa, and Cheska Apag, who suited up in the FIBA U23 3x3 World Cup last year.
Gilas 3x3 goes for broke
Gilas Women 3x3 opens its campaign against Tonga then caps it off with a game against Australia later in the night.
READ: Gilas 3x3 puts down Thai rally to push through to Asia Cup main draw
On Friday night, the men’s side also earned a berth in the main draw by edging out Southeast Asian rival Thailand in a thriller, 17-15.
The Filipinos earlier beat Maldives, 21-15, to complete a two-game sweep of the qualifiers.
They’ve been bracketed in Pool A along with top seed Mongolia and Chinese Taipei.
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