THE Philippines was drawn into a tough group in the International Basketball Federation (Fiba)-Asia U16 Championship set later this month in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The Philippine youth team, coached by Eric Altamirano, was bracketed with Kazakhstan and Japan, the second and fourth placers, respectively, in their respective zones. Also in Group B is Gulf subzone U16 champions Bahrain.

“It’s a tough bracket,” Altamirano told the BusinessMirror on Thursday. Altamirano is with the Nokia-backed under-16 team in a four-day tournament in Cebu City.

“We need to be at least in the top two to enter into the next round. It’s really tough but it’s doable,” he added.

The inaugural Fiba-Asia U16 Championship is set on November 19 to 27. The finalists will represent Asia in the first 2010 Fiba U17 World Championship in Hamburg, Germany.

Powerhouse China leads the cast in Group A along with India, Myanmar and Jordan, which finished second to Iran in their zone.

Iran, the reigning Fiba-Asia men’s champion, is in Group D with Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Thailand, while Korea, Kuwait, Singapore and Syria comprise Group C.

The top two teams from the four groups will advance into the top half of the quarterfinal round.

Altamirano admitted it will be a tall order.

 “Kazakhstan and Japan are two of the best teams in the region but we will give them a good fight,” said Altamirano.

While the ultimate goal is to qualify for the world meet, Altamirano said the immediate objective is to reach the quarterfinal stage.

“Of course, we want to qualify for the Fiba World next year, which means we need to be in the finals. But we need to focus first in making the quarterfinals,” said Altamirano.

The nationals are playing Iran, Japan and Chinese Taipei in a four-nation invitational tournament at the University of San Carlos Gymnasium.

The team is composed of  Cederick Labing-isa, Dan Sara, Angelo Alolino, Kiefer Ravena, Cris Tolomia, Von Pessumal, Kevin Ferrer, Jeron Teng, Michael Pate, Raf Nayve, Rene Sta. Maria, Emmanuel Bonleon, Gabriel Reyes, Jeoff Javillonar, Paolo Romero, Prince Caperal and Nestor Bantayan. Joel Orellana