HANGZHOU — A gauntlet has been laid down for Gilas Pilipinas to run through, with its fate in the 19th Asian Games hinged on one crucial qualification game, that is, against Qatar on Monday, October 2.

At stake is a spot in the quarterfinals of the men’s basketball competition where powerhouse Iran awaits.

A victory in the round of 8 would then give Gilas a shot at a podium finish against host China.

Revenge will be in the air, if the Philippines and China do meet in the semifinals, with the hometown crowd expected to turn up in huge numbers to demand payback for Gilas’ 96-75 rout of the Chinese team — behind Jordan Clarkson’s 34-point blast — in the FIBA Basketball World Cup classification at the SM Mall of Asia Arena last September 4.

The do-or-die game with the Qataris is slated at 4. p.m. at the Zhegiang University Zijingang Gymnasium, where the Philippines turned back Thailand and Tyler Lamb, 87-72, last Thursday, September 28.

Qatar knocked out Indonesia from quarterfinal contention in the Group Phase, 74-67, on Saturday, September 30, hours before Gilas absorbed an 87-62 setback to Jordan and NBA journeyman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center.

The Nationals had the Jordanians in the ropes for a brief moment late in the third quarter, 52-all, but let them slip away with a 13-0 run going to the fourth, letting loose as well an outright quarterfinal berth where Gilas would have sidestepped Iran.

But these are the cards dealt to the Philippine team now, and the deck it has to play with. Based on Qatar’s preliminary round game against Indonesia, Gilas will need to look out for at least three licensed Qatari shooters — Abdullah Mousa, Babakar Dieng, and Khaled Abdelbaset — who launched 19 of their team’s 25 three-point attempts.

The squad from the Gulf Region also has ferocious rebounders in Nedim Muslic, El Hadji Ndoye, and Faris Advic, with Qatar’s combined 54 rebounds crushing Indonesia’s 32 total under the boards.

With their height and build, the Qataris appear to be more comfortable working inside the perimeter, taking 43 of their 68 field goal tries from within the arc. Indonesia, in contrast, took 30 of its 57 shots from beyond the 3-point line, hitting 12. Qatar was 6 of 25 from afar.

Defensively, the Nationals may not have to worry as much in the containment of a Hollis-Jefferson (25 pts, 9 rebs), a Fadi Ibrahim (17 pts, 3 of 7 threes), or a Sami Bzai (12 pts, 3 of 6 3s), all of whom delivered firepower for Jordan.

But they have to coax out of self-imposed cells Calvin Oftana, who was 0 of 7 from the field and scoreless in 28:48 minutes, CJ Perez (2 of 9 in 19:57), Japeth Aguilar (4 of 10 in 28:03) and Ange Kouame (2 of 6 in 10:27).

Even Justin Brownlee, who played without relief save for less than two minutes, was anything but a hot hand, scoring 24 points on 8 of 22 shooting, including 2 of 10 from long distance.

He and Scottie Thompson were the only Gilas players in double figures as the Nationals shot just 24 of 72 (33 percent), clanging all but 4 of 24 3-point attempts.

Quarterfinalist Jordan, meanwhile, will be gunning for a semifinal berth on Tuesday, October 3, against the winner of Monday’s qualification game between Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong.

China, Japan, Iran, and Jordan have all booked slots in the quarterfinals. (ai/mnm)

HANGZHOU – Olympic silver medalist Nesthy Petecio failed to repeat against rival Lin Yu Ting of Chinese Taipei and made an early exit in the 19th Asian Games Friday at the Hangzhou gymnasium.

Lin used her height and reach advantage to keep at bay her Filipina adversary on the way to pulling off a 4-1 decision, and a place in the quarterfinals of the women’s 57-kg class.

Two years ago, Petecio, 31, took the measure out of the 5-foot-9 Chinese Taipei fighter by beating her, 3-2, in the Round of 16 of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where the native of Davao Del Sur won a silver medal.

This time, it wasn’t meant to be.

“Nag-unahan kami kung sino ang makakakuha ng saktong style. At naunahan niya talaga ako,” said Petecio, who was humble in defeat.

The loss denied Petecio her first shot at clinching a return ticket to the Olympics set in Paris next year as the quadrennial showcase serves as a qualifier to the Olympiad.

Now she has to go through and compete in the World Championship in the hopes of making it in the Paris Games and complete what had been an unfinished business for her.

“Hindi pa tayo tapos,” Petecio vowed.

Petecio’s exit also ended the women’s team campaign in the Asiad, leaving the men’s team – now down to just three fighters – to carry the fight in a bid to win Philippine boxing’s first gold medal since the 2010 edition of the quadrennial meet in Guangzhou, China.

Other than Petecio, those who failed to advance include her fellow Olympian Irish Magno, Aira Villegas, Aaron Jude Bado, Mark Ashley Fajardo, and Marjon Pianar.

(ai/mnm)

HANGZHOU — Call it the lull before the storm, Jordan’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson hugging Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone, Justin Brownlee, and TNT Tropang Giga teammate Calvin Oftana when they ran across each other at a training facility in the 19th Asian Games last Wednesday.

Even the TNT utility guy doubling for the national team got a warm embrace from the inherently friendly Hollis-Jefferson, whose Jordanian squad will face Gilas Pilipinas on Saturday, September 30, for an outright berth in the quarterfinals.

Game time is at 5:30 p.m. at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, with the encounter expected to be anything but cordial.

The Philippine team had just concluded a one-and-a-half-hour practice for the game against Thailand on Thursday and was on its way to the third-floor elevator when Jordan’s top player showed up smiling broadly and started throwing high fives all around.

Apparently, the Jordanians were also having team practice at an adjacent playing court in preparation for their game against Bahrain the next day, and Hollis-Jefferson seized the chance to catch up with familiar faces.

There wouldn’t be much of that pleasantry in their next meeting, though, with both teams looking to sweep Group C of the preliminaries and move on, avoiding any disastrous detours in the event of a loss.

The Philippines and Jordan arranged the all-important clash between two unbeaten teams after they each dispatched their first two opponents, Bahrain and Thailand.

Nobody from Gilas, least of all Cone, is under any illusion, however, that Jordan will be a walk in the park.

“They’re gonna be tough,” said Cone after Gilas survived Thailand and a barrage of three-point shots from Tyler Lamb and Frederick Lish, 87-72.

“What can you say? They blew this team [Thais] out by 37 points, and we only beat them by what, 15 or whatever? So if you look at it that way, we don’t have much of a chance.

“But I think [if] you walk into our locker room when you talk to every one of those guys, they think we can beat Jordan.”

Though Cone wouldn’t go to specifics, it’s almost a foregone conclusion Gilas’ defensive strategy on Saturday would cover a big percentage of Hollis-Jefferson’s offense.

“We’re gonna try to put a big performance together and go out and play Jordan,” he said.

PBA fans may well remember Hollis-Jefferson for snaring the Best Import award over Brownlee in the Governors’ Cup last April, and for his 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists performance as TNT beat Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in Game Six, 97-93, for the championship.

Hollis-Jefferson, who had NBA stints with Portland, Toronto, and Brooklyn, iced his superb play by hitting two pressure free throws in the dying seconds that secured the victory.

He also showed great magnanimity by paying tribute to Brownlee, who valiantly battled the ill effects of severe food poisoning which landed him in the hospital after Game Five.

Brownlee had 29 points in Game Six.

Their rematch on foreign soil should provide a dramatic subplot when their national teams meet for a shot at the quarters, and an interesting preview of their forthcoming duels back home, five weeks before the new PBA season opens. (ai/mnm)

HANGZHOU, China – Alex Eala pulled off one of the biggest comeback wins in tennis history in the Asian Games with a EA0-6, 7-5, 6-0 win over Japanese Kyoka Okamura Wednesday, Sept. 27 that assured Team PH another bronze medal at the Olympic Tennis Centre here.

Eala, seeded No. 4, looked like a beginner in the first set as she committed numerous turnovers – some were basic mistakes – not to mention Okamora’s solid game from the baseline.

She even lost her first serve in the second, giving Okamura a 2-0 lead.

Good thing, Eala found her second win and rallied furiously to win the second set which proved enough to take the fight out of her Japanese rival.

The third set was a different story as it was Eala who dictated the tempo on the way to posting another win that could go down as one of the highlights of a flourishing career.

The victory arranged the 18-year-old Filipina sensation a semis date with top seed Zheng Qinwen of China, who survived a close opening set to beat Park Sohyn of South Korea, 7-6 (4), 6-0.

Qinwen is the very same person who made it to the quarters of the US Open in New York after beating last year’s runner up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.

While Eala is ranked No. 192, the Chinese top seed is rated No. 23 in the latest ITF rankings.

The last time a country won a medal in the continental showpiece was 17 years ago – courtesy of Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino who won two bronze medals in the Doha edition.

Her job is not yet done for the day as she and Francis Casey Alcantara are scheduled to battle top seed Yuki Bhambri and Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina of India in the third round of the mixed doubles event later in the afternoon.
(ai/mnm)