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MANILA – The Gilas Pilipinas Men will participate in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) after New Zealand withdrew from the competition.
FIBA said on Friday that the Gilas Men would replace New Zealand as “the next best team from the Asia-Oceania Region in the FIBA World Rankings.”
Basketball New Zealand, the national governing body of the “Tall Blacks”, said they have to draw their national teams in both 5v5 and 3×3 OQT due to logistical issues.
“Due to the increase in the number of high-performance events and the costs of sending teams abroad, the Basketball New Zealand board has made the difficult decision to withdraw the Tall Blacks from the OQT in Serbia and the 3×3 men’s team from New Zealand. of the 2021 OQT in Austria, “Basketball NZ said in a statement.
The Gilas Men will be grouped alongside the Dominican Republic and host country Serbia in Group A of Belgrade OQT from June 29 to July 4.
The top two teams in the pool will face the top two teams in Pool B, consisting of Puerto Rico, Italy and Senegal, in the crossover round of 16 semifinals, with the winners battling for one of the remaining four spots in the Games Male Olympians. 5×5 basketball event in Tokyo.
The Gilas Men have already reserved a seat at the FIBA 3×3 OQT in Graz, Austria, scheduled for May. (PNA)
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