Philippines kicks off FIBA Asia Cup for Women campaign

Gilas Pilipinas Women

The Philippines' hopes to play in the FIBA Women's World Cup in 2022 will commence starting tonight, as Gilas Women face off against China to kickstart their FIBA Asia Cup for Women campaign.

Tip-off for this matchup starts at 9pm, to be shown LIVE on One Sports, One Sports+, and gigafest.smart.

Slotted in Group B with Australia and Chinese-Taipei, the country has a steep hill to climb in its hopes to be among the twelve teams involved in the top tier global competition for women's basketball.

Four spots are allocated to Asia for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournaments, including Australia as the FIBA Women's World Cup hosts. With the eight teams in the Asia Cup Division A split into two groups of four, only the top three teams of each group advance into the knockout rounds, with the top team getting an automatic semifinal bid. As for the two last-placed teams, they will then face off in a relegation battle with the loser moved into Division B.

The squad is led by stalwarts Afril Bernardino, Ria Nabalan, and Clare Castro, and includes newcomers Camille Clarin of National University, and Fairleigh Dickinson University true freshman Ella Fajardo.

Serving as the first obstacle for the Pat Aquino-coached side is China, who has won this competition eleven times, although their last title came in 2011.