SUMMARY
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BEIJING, China – The top 16 teams battle it out in the second round of the FIBA World Cup with defending champion United States and powerhouse Serbia leading the way.
The US, who got an overtime scare in the first round against Turkey, carry over its perfect 3-0 record in Group K in Shenzen with Brazil (3-0), Czech Republic (2-1) and the Greece squad (2-1) bannered by NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Main title challenger Serbia (3-0), led by another NBA star in Nikola Jokic, leads Group J teams Spain (3-0), Italy (2-1), and Puerto Rico (2-1) in Wuhan.
Australia (3-0) and France (3-0) head to Nanjing with Group L squads Dominican Republic (2-1) and Lithuania (2-1).
It’s also going to be an interesting battle in Foshan where Group I contenders Argentina (3-0), Poland (3-0), Russia (2-1), and Venezuela (2-1) slug it out.
All eliminated teams – including Gilas Pilpinas – have been relegated to the classification round for the final 17-22 ranking, but berths for the Olympics and qualifying tournaments still remain at stake.
The Philippines wound up winless in the first round, the last heartbreaker coming off an overtime loss to Angola.
But with Asian favorite and host China failing to reach the next round, the Philippines hopes to fight it out for the top Asian team honor, which comes with an outright berth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (READ: Gilas Pilipinas’ Olympic bid still alive as China gets boot)
Australia already clinched the first Tokyo 2020 berth as the top-ranked team from Oceania, leaving the other regions – Asia (1 team), Europe (2 teams), Americas (2 teams), and Africa (1 team) – to dispute the remaining slots. – Rappler.com
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