Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — FIBA revealed the hurdles the Philippine men’s national basketball team will have to overcome en route to the 2016 Rio Olympics through a draw early Wednesday morning (January 27 PHT).
The six-team tournament was split into two groups of three. Groupmates will play each other once in the preliminaries, and the top two placers will advance to the knockout semifinals. Winners will then dispute the free ride to Rio.
The Philippines was grouped with France and New Zealand, while Senegal, Canada, and Turkey comprise the other bracket in the Manila Olympic Qualifier.
For Gilas to secure a ticket to the biggest basketball conclave for the first time since 1972, they need to top the tournament from July 5 to 10.
In a previous statement, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) Executive Director Sonny Barrios said regardless of who the Philippines faces in one of the three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, topping it will indeed be an uphill climb.
But the SBP official is hoping the team’s “Sixth Man” will give Gilas the boost when it faces some of the world’s basketball juggernauts in the July meet.
“We admit our chances of winning the tournament are slim but you can’t discount the factor of our Sixth Man,” said Barrios, referring to an expected raucous, partisan crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“At the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships, we saw how our team was inspired by the homecrowd. For the first time in FIBA history, we witnessed the wave. No one was surprised when at the FIBA World Cup in 2014, the Philippines was named the country with the Most Valuable Fans.”
Barrios added, “It’s the first time we’re hosting an Olympic qualifying tournament. We played in an Olympic qualifier in 1964 in Yokohoma but we didn’t make it to Tokyo. Now, we’re hosting and it will make a big difference.”
Meanwhile, here are the complete results of the draw:
