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MANILA, Philippines — Is this the group of death?
The Philippines will find itself in an early clash with a familiar foe and tormentor in Iran in the men’s basketball competitions in the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea next month.
Gilas Pilipinas, the Fiba Asia Championship silver medalist, was paired with powerhouse and gold medalist of the same tournament Iran in Group E. The groupings were released Thursday in the 2014 Asian Games’ official Twitter account.
The Philippines and Iran automatically advanced to the preliminary round of the tournament after finishing among the Top 8 teams in the 16th Guangzhou Games. The Filipinos finished 6th while the Iranians bagged the bronze in 2010.
Joining the Philippines and Iran in the preliminary round are last edition’s gold medalist China, second placer and host Korea, Japan, Qatar, Jordan and Chinese Taipei.
China and Taipei make up Group C, Korea and Jordan are in Group D while Japan and Qatar comprise Group F. The four groups will be composed of three teams with the third squad to be determined by the four best teams emerging from the qualifying phase.
The top teams of each group in the preliminaries advance to the quarterfinal round.
Gilas will be led by Naturalized center and NBA veteran Andray Blatche along with Jayson Castro, LA Tenorio, newcomers Paul Lee and Jared Dillinger, Gabe Norwood, Ranidel de Ocampo, Marc Pingris, Japeth Aguilar and June Mar Fajardo.
Men’s basketball will be from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4. The Philippines eyes to win its first Asian Games gold since 1962 in Jakarta.
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