MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas will get another crack at its Paris Olympics hopes.

After missing out on an outright ticket to Paris, the Philippines qualified for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) as it ended its FIBA World Cup run on a high note with a 96-75 win over China on Saturday, September 2.

Wrapping up their campaign with a 1-4 record, the Nationals wound up at 24th out of the 32 participating countries and secured one of the 19 OQT berths up for grabs in the World Cup.

Gilas Pilipinas achieved the feat by finishing second in Group M behind South Sudan (3-2), edging Angola and China in their three-way tie with a superior point difference.

It made up for its 10-point loss to the Black Antelopes, 80-70, with a 21-point demolition of Team Dragon to record a point difference of +11 as Angola (+3) and China (-11) settled for third and fourth, respectively, in Group M.

The final ranking followed a tier format, with the first in the classification groups ranked 17th to 20th, second in groups 21st to 24th, third in groups 25th to 28th, and fourth in groups 29th to 32nd.

Such a rule meant that Mexico, which posted a better record than the Philippines with a 2-3 card, placed lower at 25th as it finished third in Group N.

Which teams will qualify for the OQT?

The World Cup offers a direct path to the Olympics.

Seven teams will earn outright Olympic berths through the World Cup: the two best teams from the Americas, two best teams from Europe, and the best teams each from Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Australia (Oceania), South Sudan (Africa), and Japan (Asia) topped their respective continents to join host France in the 12-man Olympic field.

World Cup teams which failed to earn automatic qualification for Paris will get one last shot through the OQT.

According to FIBA, the next highest-placed squads each from the Americas, Africa, and Asia-Oceania after the eight Olympic qualified teams will advance to the OQT followed by the next best 16 teams in the World Cup.

Including the five winners of the Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament (Cameroon, Bahamas, Bahrain, Poland, and Croatia), a total of 24 teams will compete in the OQT.

The 24 squads will be split into four OQT legs, with the winners punching their tickets to Paris.

FIBA World Cup ranking (17th to 32nd)

17. South Sudan (Qualified for Olympics)
18. France (Qualified for Olympics)
19. Japan (Qualified for Olympics)
20. Egypt (Qualified for OQT)
21. Finland (Qualified for OQT)
22. New Zealand (Qualified for OQT)
23. Lebanon (Qualified for OQT)
24. Philippines (Qualified for OQT)
25. Mexico (Qualified for OQT)
26. Angola (Qualified for OQT)
27. Ivory Coast (Qualified for OQT)
28. Cape Verde
29. China
30. Venezuela
31. Iran
32. Jordan

– Rappler.com