Gilas Pilipinas has retained its place in the FIBA world rankings after the second window of the FIBA 2021 Asia Cup Qualifiers last month.
The national men's basketball team remained at No. 31 spot, scoring a total of 340.8 points as of Dec. 9.
Gilas is only 0.3 points away from regional rival South Korea, which also maintained its No. 30 ranking with 341.1 points.
Leading the Asian region are world No. 3 Australia, Iran, New Zealand, China and Korea respectively while the Philippines landed at sixth place.
Team USA sits atop of the world rankings (781.4) followed by Spain (721.2), Australia (666.5), Argentina (662.3) and Serbia (660.5).
The Philippines is set to host the last leg of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on February next year in Clark, Pampanga, months after the successful bubble season of the PBA.
The country will accommodate Group A where Gilas Pilipinas leads with a 3-0 record, followed by South Korea (2-0), Indonesia (1-2) and Thailand (0-4).
The teams from Group C – Australia, New Zealand, Guam and Hong Kong – will also play in Clark.
FIBA also selected Tokyo (Japan), Manama (Bahrain), and Doha (Qatar) as other bubble venues.
Late last month, the all-amateur Gilas squad won a two-game sweep against Thailand in the second window of the qualifiers in Manama as collegiate standouts Dwight Ramos and Juan Gomez de Liano proved to be too much for the Thais.
In the third leg, pro players are expected to reinforce the national team as the PBA Board of Governors approved the request of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to field their talents.