GILAS Pilipinas’s 82-70 quarterfinal victory over Lebanon on Thursday night gave the Philippines another option to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
With the Filipinos assured of a top-4 finish, the Philippines—if ever it bombs out of the semifinals or loses in the gold-medal match—could still vie for a ticket to Rio through the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) next year.
But, of course, the Tab Badlwin-coached squad wanted a direct route to the Olympics by winning the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Asia Men’s Championship in Changsa, China.
The Philippines battled Japan in the semifinals late Friday. Host China and defending champion Iran disputed the other finals berth in the other semifinal.
Only the champion in Hunan will earn an Olympic berth, while the silver medalist and the losing semifinalists qualify for the OQT, which will be played from July 5 to 11 in three different countries.
The Philippines has expressed interest in hosting one of the three OQTs. Mexico, Canada, Italy, Russia and Turkey are the other nations that are also interested in hosting the OQT.
The OQT will be composed of 18 countries that failed to qualify in their continental tournaments. The 18 nations will be divided into three groups with each group playing in their own OQT and the winner getting the ticket to the Olympic Games.
France, Serbia, Greece, Italy and the Czech Republic are the five European teams seeded in the OQT. Fiba America’s Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico also advanced to the qualifiers.
Angola, Tunisia and Senegal are Africa’s representatives to the OQT, while New Zealand will represent Oceania.
If the Philippines wins the Asian Championships, it would most likely drop its bid to host the QQT.
Jayson Castro and naturalized player Andray Blatche were huge in Gilas’s quarterfinal victory over the pesky Lebanese. Castro fired 25 points, while Blatche finished with 24 points and 17 rebounds in his best game yet in the tournament.
They were up against a fired-up Japanese squad that shocked Qatar, 81-74, in their quarterfinal game on Thursday.
China demolished India in its quarterfinal match, 104-58, to set up an interesting duel with Iran, which beat South Korea, 75-62.
The Philippines is eyeing to return to the Olympics for the first time since 1972 in Munich, Germany.
The basketball tournament in Rio is set from August 6 to 21 and eight nations are already qualified in the 12-nation tournament.
As host, Brazil is already seeded, while the United States, the defending Olympic champion, is also in after topping the Fiba World Cup last year in Spain.
Australia also booked a spot after winning the Oceania tournament, while Nigeria took the lone spot for Africa after topping the AfroBasket tourney. Venezuela and Argentina went 1-2 in the Fiba Americas to clinch the two slots, while Spain and Lithuania booked the two spots for Fiba Americas for finishing in the top 2.
Image credits: Fiba.com