Gilas Pilipinas battles familiar foes in FIBA Asia Cup group stage

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GILAS Pilipinas will be battling familiar foes in the group stage of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in August.

Gilas is grouped in Group D together with Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, two squads that defeated the Philippine team in the third and final window of the qualifiers last February.

The draw held last Tuesday, April 8, also saw Iraq playing in Group D. Gilas, Chinese Taipei, and New Zealand battled each other in the same group during the qualifier.

New Zealand ruled the bracket with a 5-1 (win-loss) record followed by Gilas with a 4-2 card. The two teams clinched automatic berths in the FIBA Asia Cup main event following the one-two finish.

The Taiwanese wound up with an even 3-3 card and had to go through another set of qualifying games which they won to book the las ticket to Jeddah.

Gilas split its home-and-away assignments against New Zealand and Chinese Taipei with the losses coming during the road games in the third window last February.

Gilas suffered an 81-94 loss to the Taiwanese and then yielded to the Kiwis, 70-87.

The Filipinos are looking to improve their ninth-place finish in the last edition of the continental showpiece in 2022.

The draw also saw last edition’s finalists Australia and Lebanon playing in Group A along with South Korea and Qatar.

Group B will have Japan and Iran going at it together with Guam and Syria. Group C has China and Jordan alongside India and host Saudi Arabia.(CCM)