THE Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 men’s team will have to go through the defending Asian Games champion as the knockout stage of the half-court competitions gets going on Thursday in Nagoya, Japan.
Chinese Taipei sealed a quarterfinals showdown with the Philippines after defeating Malaysia, 21-14, in their play-in at the Kinjo-futo Station Square.
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The 2022 gold medal winners in Hangzhou, China were relegated to the playoffs after finishing second in Pool C (2-1) behind unbeaten Qatar.
Malaysia meanwhile, ended up third in Pool B (1-2).
Chang Chun-sheng, the only remaining member of the team that won the inaugural staging of the 3x3 in the Asiad, paced Chinese Taipei with seven points and five rebounds, while Yeh Wei-chieh also had seven.
Coach Patrick Fran is familiar with the Chinese Taipei team as the Philippines went up against the Taiwanese three times during the FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League.
“Tatlong beses namin nakalaban yan, 2-1 sa amin. We won twice, we lost one in six stops,” said Fran from the Aichi Prefecture.
Fran was also a deputy coach of the men’s 3x3 team that beat Chinese Taipei in the pool stage of the Hangzhou Asiad, 17-12.
Chinese Taipei won the gold by beating Qatar, 18-16.
South Korea, Qatar, and Iran join the Philippines as outright quarterfinalists after topping their respective group during the pool play.
The rest of the four berths in the knockout stage will be disputed through a play-in.
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