MANILA, Philippines—Coach Franz Pumaren will not be around when the Nokia-RP Youth team winds up its campaign at the FIBA-Asia Championships for junior men.

The multi-titled mentor of the De La Salle University Green Archers left Tehran, Iran, Thursday and was expected to arrive in time for his squad’s eagerly awaited date with the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles on Saturday in the UAAP basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The RP dribblers, who will be handled by Pumaren’s older brother Derrick, face China on Friday after bombing out of the quarterfinals.

Should the Philippines survive China, it will meet the winner of the South Korea-Lebanon match for fifth place.

Defending champion China ended up in the losers’ bracket after Syria and Kazakhstan finished with a higher quotient to break the three-way tie in their quarterfinal group. Lebanon was the fourth team in the bracket.

Korea also missed the semifinals like the Philippines after losing to Japan.

Iran, which dropped a no-bearing 85-84 decision to the Philippines, arranged a semifinal duel with Syria with Japan facing Kazakhstan in the other Final Four pairing.

The top three finishers will advance to the FIBA World U-19 Championships in New Zealand next year. June Navarro