Philippines likely to be named one of 3 OQT hosts – report

Naveen Ganglani

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Philippines likely to be named one of 3 OQT hosts – report
Serbia and Italy are the other two reported favorites

MANILA, Philippines – Nine of the 12 teams participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics men’s basketball tournament have already been determined, with the remaining 3 slots to be decided by a trio of Olympic Qualifying Tournaments that will be held from July 4 to 10.

There will be 18 countries participating in the 3 OQTs, with 3 of those countries getting hosting rights. The Philippines is one of the 10 countries which has bid for hosting rights, and a report indicates it is favored to win.

Sports website Sportnando mentions in a report that an Italian newspaper called Tuttosport indicates the Philippines and Serbia are “almost sure” to win hosting rights, while Italy will likely win the third hosting slot.

The 3 winners will be announced on Tuesday night, January 19.

So far, the countries confirmed to participate in the OQTs are Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, Serbia, Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Angola, Tunisia, Philippines, Iran, Senegal, New Zealand, and Japan.

That’s only 15, which means 3 countries will have the chance to make the qualifying tournaments as well. Those spots are reserved for the host countries.

As previously mentioned, the Philippines, Italy, and Serbia are favored to win hosting rights, but they’ve already qualified for the tournaments thanks to performances in their respective FIBA continental tourneys.

That means the next top teams from their continental tournaments will get the open spots instead.

In the event the 3 countries end up winning hosting rights, Latvia and Croatia will take Serbia and Italy’s spots, while Lebanon, which was fifth in the FIBA Asia Championship last year, will get in.

The Philippines, which came up short against China in the bid for the 2019 FIBA World Cup last year, could see many international basketball stars if the country does end up winning one of the 3 OQT hosting spots.

For example, France boasts of players like Tony Parker and Nic Batum Canada is represented by Andrew Wiggins and Cory Joseph. – Rappler.com

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