Gilas Pilipinas schedule for FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers revealed

Mark your calendar as Gilas Pilipinas schedule for the third window of FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers is finally revealed less than two months before the tip-off.

Under the schedule released by FIBA on its official website, our national squad is set to be tested first by archrival South Korea on June 16, followed by Indonesia on June 19, and South Korea again on June 20.

Gilas Pilipinas will go up against some familiar faces in Philippine basketball scene as the naturalized players of both countries already played as an import in the Philippine Basketball Association. Ricardo Ratliffe is a resident import of the Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshot franchise before getting the nod to become South Korea’s naturalized player while Lester Prosper once suited up for the Columbian Dyip franchise and San Miguel Beermen respectively before taking his talent to Indonesia. Also, former Coach Rajko Toroman, who once coached the Gilas side, will be the head mentor of the Indonesia quintet.



Meanwhile, other games in Group A includes the match between Korea and Indonesia on June 17, Thailand against Korea on June 19, and Indonesia against Thailand on June 20.

Group B, on the other hand, will feature the Japan and China game as opener on June 16. China and Chinese Taipei go at it on June 17 followed by the Chinese Taipei and Japan tussle on June 18. The second serving of matches between China and Japan, and China and Chinese Taipei will happen on June 19 and June 20 respectively.

Finally, the two remaining teams to complete Group C, Guam and Hong Kong, will battle it out twice on June 16 and June 18.

The remaining games of other countries supposedly part of the Clark Bubble such as Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia have not been scheduled.

The games will take place in Clark City, Pampanga on a bubble environment to ensure the health and safety of all participants.

FIBA will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and communicate any further updates regarding the competition.

Images from FIBA and SBP