Philippines ascends in FIBA 3x3 World Rankings

BAVI head honcho Ronald Mascarinas, flanked by Chooks-to-Go Ambassadors Kai Sotto and Kobe Paras, and Butch Antonio of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Another milestone for 3x3 basketball in the Philippines was achieved in the aftermath of the recently-concluded Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 Patriot's Cup presented by Coca-Cola.

Based from an update on the FIBA 3x3 standings last Sunday, the Philippines moved up to 24th in the world rankings, which is the highest they have achieved.

By making it to the top 24 in the world, the country would at least earn a spot in the Qualifying Tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

League owner Ronald Mascariñas shares, "This is a surprising development even for us. We started the year at 60 and many said that making it to an Olympic Qualifying Tournament was improbable.

"But with the people who believed in the dream, the team owners, the players, the sponsors, and the hard work of our staff, we were able to crack the top 24," he adds.

Coming into the Grand Finals of the Patriot's Cup, the Philippines was in 28th place with 6,257,888 points.

After the tournament, which is classified as a level-8 tournament by FIBA, the country tacked on 434,452 points, moving it past the Dominican Republic, Canada, Indonesia, and Switzerland to be ranked 24th overall.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is very much appreciative of the efforts of the likes of Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 in raising the profile of the sport and improving the nation's standing in the global 3x3 scene.

SBP president Al Panlilio shares, "Chooks-to-Go as a private promoter has been instrumental in helping the country increase its federation rankings and we are thankful to them."

He adds, "Our Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 national teams’ participation in international tournaments combined with local activations initiated by Smart Communications and other local promoters have also helped the Men’s and Women’s rankings in the Open, U-23, and U-18 categories."

The federation provided assistance to Chooks-to-Go with regards to their participation in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments, whilst the national team recently took part in the 2019 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup.

Eight slots are allocated for Olympic 3x3 basketball, both for men's and women's. Hosts Japan already snapped up a spot, with the top three nations in the FIBA 3x3 rankings by November 1, 2019 will also earn spots.

Three spots will be handed out to the winners of three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, which one has to be in the top 24 of the rankings to automatically earn such a bid.

A final spot will be awarded to the champion of the Universality-driven OQT that takes place on April 2020.

Now that the Philippines has reached the top 24, the goal has evolved to maintaining that standing, which entails conducting additional tournaments and participation in international meets.

Panlilio says, "We are truly headed towards the right direction and the SBP is overwhelmed by the support of private organizers who have significantly contributed in SBP’s mission to continuously improve in our world ranking to enable us to qualify to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics."

Mascariñas adds, "The fight is not yet over. Yes, we are happy that we made it to the top 24 but the challenge now is to maintain our standing or go even higher."

The BAVI head honcho also revealed a couple of new developments, "We are currently in talks with FIBA to host a Manila Challenger this September. Wilkins-Balanga is also preparing for the Bucharest Challenger this August. We are already preparing for our third conference, which is the Magiting Cup."

The option to potentially bid for the chance to host an OQT is on the table as well, in case the Philippines falls out of the Top 24 by the cutoff date.