The Philippines now has better chances of achieving its Olympic dream in 3×3 basketball.
After moving up to no. 24 in the world rankings, the Philippines is now a candidate to earn an invitation to Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
“This is a surprising development even for us,” said Chooks to Go 3×3 Pilipinas league owner Ronald Mascariñas, who is actively pursuing the goal of making the Philippines a qualifier to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Mascariñas added that this is a big improvement after having started the year at 60 in the world rankings.
According to Mascariñas, 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,” said Mascariñas.
The Philippines was ranked no. 28 with 6,257,888 points last month, before the Grand Finals of the Chooks 3×3 Patriots Cup.
This moved the Philippines four spots higher, even ahead of the Dominican Republic, Canada, Indonesia and Switzerland.
Besides the local league, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and other private promoters are also pitching in to boost the country’s standings.
This was after the Gilas 3X3 national team recently joined the 2019 FIBA 3X3 Asia Cup.
“Our Gilas Pilipinas 3×3 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,” said Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas president Alfredo Panlilio.