Gilas Pilipinas moves up in FIBA rankings

Sports

BOOSTED by its strong showing in the opening window of the 2027 World Cup Asian Qualifiers, Gilas Pilipinas moved one notch higher in the recent FIBA rankingfs.

Gilas moved up from 37th to 36th spot, a slight jump that was made possible by its two-game sweep of Guam at the start of the 2027 World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

The Filipinos first defeated Guam on the road, 87-46, then scored another win at home, 95-71.

Now seventh in Asia, Gilas actually ranked 34th before the start of the FIBA Asia Cup last August. It fell to 37th after managing just seventh place finish in the tournament.

Australia remained the No. 1 team in Asia. The top five teams in Asia have actually not changed as the Boomers are followed by Japan, New Zealand, Iran and China.

Gilas faces an uphill climb in the second window as it will be playing Australia in another set of back-to-back games.

The Boomers ranked 6th in the world–the only country from the Asia-Pacific region to make it to the Top 20.

Still No. 1 in the world is the USA followed by Germany, Serbia, France, and Canada. Trailing Australia is Spain, which is at No. 7 followed by Argentina, Lithuania, and Brazil.(CCM)