INQUIRER Sports

MIRED IN THE DEPTHS FOR SO LONG, the Philippines has made a remarkable leap in the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) world rankings.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Noli Eala said the Philippines made the significant jump from 63rd to 53rd in global men?s basketball and moved on top of the Southeast Asian subzone, according to recent ratings released by the Fiba.

Overall in Asia, the men?s team improved to 13th but still lagged behind India (49), Syria (50) and Kuwait (52) in the world rankings.

Eala noted that the women?s squad also showed progress after climbing from 53rd to 50th place in the world. The women?s team is now ranked 9th in Asia and 3rd behind Thailand (38) and Malaysia (42).

Combining the efforts of the men?s and women?s national teams, Eala said the country registered the second biggest gain in ranking points (2.7) among Asian nations, with only Korea (3.0) gaining more.

?We are grateful to Fiba that they continue to acknowledge the hardwork of the Filipino basketball player,? said Eala. ?It was hard inheriting a very low ranking from the previous national sport association but the SBP has persevered.?
Prior to the SBP?s takeover two years ago, the Basketball Association of the Philippines was the recognized body for basketball in the country for decades.

The sudden spike in the world rankings was attributed to the recent performances of the Smart Gilas Pilipinas National Team in the Fiba Champions Cup in Jakarta and the PBA-backed Powerade RP Team in the Fiba Asia Championship in Tianjin.

Coached by Serbian Rajko Toroman, Gilas finished fifth behind reigning Asian champion Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Qatar, the same teams which the Powerade-RP squad tangled with before ending up eighth in the Fiba Asia Championship in August.