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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Gilas crosses paths with familiar foes in FIBA Asia Cup group stage

Gilas crosses paths with familiar foes in FIBA Asia Cup group stage

Published Apr 8, 2025 12:05 pm

At A Glance

  • The Nationals were drawn in Group D alongside Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, two teams that defeated them in the third and final window of the qualifiers last February.

Gilas Pilipinas gets a shot at redemption when it crosses paths with familiar faces in the group stage of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in August.

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The Nationals were drawn in Group D alongside Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, two teams that defeated them in the third and final window of the qualifiers last February.

Iraq completed Group D following the results of the draw held on Tuesday, April 8.

Gilas, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand all faced each other during the qualifier after being drawn into the same group. The Tall Blacks topped the bracket with a 5-1 record followed by the Filipinos with a 4-2 slate to get an outright spot to the FIBA Asia Cup main event.

The Taiwanese, who finished third with an even 3-3 card, had to go through another set of qualifying games which they dominated to catch the last bus to Jeddah.

The Filipinos split both of their home-and-away assignments against New Zealand and Chinese Taipei although the losses all came during the road games in the third window last February.

Gilas sustained an 81-94 upset loss to the Taiwanese and then bowed to the Kiwis, 70-87, a few days later.

The Nationals are on a mission heading into the tournament as they hope to bounce back from a ninth-place finish in the last edition of the continental showpiece in 2022.

Over at the other groups, last edition’s finalists Australia and Lebanon are set for an early collision after being drawn to Group A along with South Korea and Qatar.

Group B, on the other hand, featured regional powerhouses Japan and Iran going at it together with Jericho Cruz and Guam and Syria while Group C has China and Jordan emerging as the early favorites in the pool that also has India and host Saudi Arabia.

Top seed of each group gets an outright quarterfinal spot while the second and third placers battle in a qualifying round for the remaining four spots. Last placers, meanwhile, get automatically eliminated from contention.
 

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