Gilas Pilipinas out of FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Gilas Pilipinas missed out on a wild card slot for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament as FIBA confirmed the 24 participating teams following the release of the world rankings on Thursday.

Among Asia-Oceania teams, Iran and Australia directly qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. New Zealand, meanwhile, is one of the 16 teams which secured a spot at the OQT.

The two wild cards for the region went to China and Korea, the highest-ranked teams following the World Cup excluding the three teams already qualified.

The Philippines kept its spot at no. 31 despite its disastrous World Cup campaign, but it dropped to no. 6 in Asia-Oceania as China and Korea improved their rankings.

China moved up three spots at no. 27 to secure its place as fourth-best team in the region, while Korea ranked fifth after moving up two spots at no. 30 to leapfrog Gilas Pilipinas.

Korea won one game at the World Cup, which made all the difference as the Philippines finished the tournament dead last with zero wins in five games.

Australia, who lost to France in the bronze medal game at the World Cup, solidified its place as the no. 1 team in Asia-Oceania and jumped all the way to world no. 3.

Iran also improved five places at world no. 22 to become the second-best team in the region, while New Zealand ranked third-best after jumping 14 places at world no. 24. —MGP, GMA News