MANILA – Despite securing just one victory in five matches during the recent FIBA World Cup, Gilas Pilipinas has shown resilience by ascending two spots in the FIBA world rankings, moving from 40th to 38th place.
In their final classification game on September 2nd, Gilas Pilipinas triumphed over China, ranked 27th globally, with a score of 96-75, in front of an overflowing crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In a parallel development, the women’s team of Gilas received some encouraging news. FIBA announced on Wednesday night that the women’s team had jumped five places to 37th in the world, up from 42nd overall.
The remarkable sixth-place finish of the Gilas women’s team in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, which included a significant victory against Chinese Taipei to secure their first-ever quarterfinal appearance and a guaranteed place in Division A, proved to be the catalyst for this improvement.
Coach Pat Aquino of the Gilas women’s team expressed his satisfaction, saying, “We’ve come a long way, but we’re making progress. I’m delighted to see our efforts paying off. This is a testament to our program. I hope we can maintain this momentum and achieve even greater heights.”
Meanwhile, the FIBA World Cup outcomes resulted in significant changes in the men’s rankings.
Germany, the newly crowned world champion, made a remarkable ascent from 11th to third place during the sixth qualifying window.
Serbia, the silver medalist, climbed one spot to fifth in the world rankings, while Canada, the bronze medalist, surged nine spots to sixth.
Despite not securing a podium finish, Team USA reclaimed its position at the top of the world rankings. Spain, following a surprising early exit due to Canada’s comeback victory in their do-or-die second-round encounter, slipped to second place in the world rankings but still maintained Europe’s top spot despite Germany’s ascent.
The biggest winners, however, were Latvia and South Sudan.
Latvia, buoyed by a commendable fifth-place finish in their debut FIBA World Cup appearance, leaped an impressive 22 spots from 30th in February to eighth in the current rankings.
In contrast, South Sudan made the most significant leap, surging 32 places to 31st in the world. This accomplishment made them the top-ranked team in Africa after a successful FIBA World Cup campaign that secured their direct qualification for the Paris Olympics.
Japan, as the host team in the 2021 edition in Saitama, earned direct qualification to the Paris Olympics and moved up 11 places to 26th in the world rankings. It now holds the top position in continental Asia, ranking third in the Asia-Pacific region alongside Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the improvements in the world rankings, Gilas Pilipinas slipped to 8th place in the Asia-Pacific region. This was due to Lebanon’s remarkable 16-place surge, propelling them from 44th overall to 28th, and surpassing China and Jordan to claim fifth place in the region. Jordan, despite finishing at the bottom of the FIBA World Cup standings, climbed one spot to 32nd overall, while China dropped one spot to 29th. (ai/mnm)
