Gilas unfazed by tough draw

The Philippines was relegated to what had to be the toughest bracket in the first round of the FIBA 2027 World Cup Asia qualifiers but Gilas assistant coach Sean Chambers, who attended Tuesday's draw in Doha, said that while the mission to advance is daunting, it's doable.

- By JOAQUIN HENSON

Fate brought the Philippines to Group A with Australia, New Zealand and Guam. In Group B are Japan, China, South Korea and Chinese-Taipei while Iran, Jordan, Syria and Iraq are in Group C. Comprising Group D are Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, India and Qatar. There are six qualifying windows starting on Nov. 24-Dec. 3. The 16 teams will play a double round robin home-and-away format in the first round. Then, the top three placers of each group move to the second round with the 12 survivors split into two batches to play six more games. The top three finishers in the two batches advance to the World Cup plus the winner of a playoff between