HANGZHOU - The Philippine men's 3x3 team went down to its first loss in the 19th Asian Games on Friday.
And it was a setback that really hurt.
A 21-12 loss to powerhouse Mongolia denied the Filipinos an outright quarterfinals berth, leaving them with the daunting task of having to win their two games in the quarterfinal qualifications to advance to the KO stage.
READ: Tim Cone admits Justin Brownlee playing hurt at Asiad
The Mongolia win forged a three-way tie on top of Group A together with the Philippines and Chinese Taipei.
Mongolia, an acknowledged power in the half-court game, clinched an outright quarterfinals berth, while Gilas and Chinese Taipei will play in a classification with six teams from the three other groups to determine the four other quarterfinalists.
The Filipinos will face Kazakhstan on Friday and possibly, Iran in two must-win games.
"Mahirap pero laban lang," said deputy coach Patrick Fran of the daunting task that await Gilas 3x3.
The scores:
Mongolia (21) – Tsermaa 8, Myagmarsuren 7, Batzorig 3, Lkhagva 3.
Philippines (12) – Lina 7, Sajonia 2, Pasaol 2, Sanchez 1.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
