Philippines moves one rung up to No. 27 in FIBA world rankings

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines, the 2015 Asian championship runner-up with a decent showing in the last FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila, was among the “gainers,” improving by a notch to No. 27 in the latest world ranking released by FIBA after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Iran, on the other hand, was among the biggest losers, taking a nosedive from No. 17 to No. 25 and thus seeing the gap between them and the Philippines further reduced.

At No. 26 between Iran and the Philippines is Uruguay.

China, back as Asian champ but with a poor showing in the Olympics, stayed at No. 14.

Jordan, like the Philippines, moved a rung up to No. 28 while the rest of the Asian teams made no movement in the latest FIBA ranking still led by the USA and Spain at one and two.

Serbia, the silver medalist in the Rio Games, jumped past France, Lithuania and Argentina to be at third behind the USA and Spain.

Nigeria, Venezuela and Brazil had their noticeable jumps while Germany, Angola, Iran and Greece suffered the biggest falls.

Curiously, the Philippines and even Jordan are now ahead of Germany which slid down to 29.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has found itself in elims groupings with Chinese Taipei, India, China, Jordan and Kazakhstan in the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge set in Tehran, Iran from September 9-18.

The Gilas cadets, under coach Josh Reyes, must make the top four of this group to reach the knockout round.

In Group A, the Nationals play the Taiwanese and the Indians in the first round of the elims. China, Jordan and Kazakhstan will have their own initial round in Group B.

Iran, Qatar and Iraq slug it out in Group C while Japan, South Korea and Thailand battle in Group D.

Donning the Phl colors in Tehran are Mac Belo, Kevin Ferrer, Mike Tolomia, Russel Escoto, Roger Pogoy, Ed Daquiaog, Von Pessumal, Arnold Van Opstal, Jaymar Perez, Alfonzo Gotladera, Carl Bryan Cruz and Chris Javier. Reserves are Almond Vosotros and Jonathan Grey.

Reyes and his troops depart Manila on September 6.