FOR the first time in 45 years, the Philippines will be the setting for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Manila will play host—alongside Okinawa, Japan and Jakarta, Indonesia —to the best of the best players in the 2023 world meet scheduled for August 25 to September 10.
Specifically, Angola, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Serbia, South Sudan, and the USA will all be first up front and center for Filipinos to watch in the group phase.
The last time the Philippines served as venue was in 1978, in what was then called the FIBA World Championship. It was the first time the showcase was put on in an Asian country, with the Araneta Coliseum and Rizal Memorial Coliseum standing as stages.
Now, the Big Dome in Quezon City will yet again welcome global basketball with arms wide open, this time alongside Pasay’s SM Mall of Asia Arena and, for the opening day, Bulacan’s Philippine Arena, which is expected to be at full capacity to witness top-10 ranked Italy versus scrappy Angola in the opener, followed by the home team Gilas Pilipinas battling the Dominican Republic.
Tip-offs are slated at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively, on August 25, as a projected record-breaking number of fans is expected to cheer on the Philippine national team in its quest to claim its first world win on home soil in the nightcap.
The highly-anticipated opening day matchups will be surrounded by other attractions as celebrities will be in attendance and tournament organizers are preparing a show comprised of top local musical acts, booths set up by both local and global event partners, and other gimmicks that will give fans a truly world-class experience aside from a chance to be part of FIBA World Cup record-breaking attendance history.
Ticket holders for the opening day games at the Philippine Arena can avail of free shuttle services from major transportation hubs, as there will be 400 buses deployed for this purpose.
Filipino fans are hoping for an improvement on their side’s unsatisfactory showing in the previous FIBA Basketball World Cup held in China. On the other hand, the Dominicans – no. 23 in the FIBA World Ranking – are eyeing to better their 2-3 record from 2019, and it all starts by overcoming a loud and proud crowd in a country where they went winless 45 years ago.
The Caribbean nation fell in all of their five assignments in the 1978 staging of the world meet, which saw Yugoslavia top the 14-team field, while perennial powerhouse Team USA dropped to fifth. As host country, the Philippines did not go through the preliminary phase and automatically qualified for the semifinals, where it lost all seven games before bowing to Australia in the classification contest.
Still, the Filipinos ranked eighth in the end, with Ramon Cruz fronting the effort throughout by averaging 16.8 points. Flanking him were Bernardo “Joy” Carpio, Nathaniel Castillo, Alex Clariño, Gregorio Gozum, Leopoldo “Pol” Herrera, Federico “Padim” Israel, Federico “Bokyo” Lauchengo, Edward Merced, Cesar Teodoro, Steve Watson, and Cesar Yabut.
Fast forward to today and coach Chot Reyes will lead Gilas Pilipinas against the Dominican Republic assumed-to-be bannered by NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns as well as mainstays Andres Feliz and Eloy Vargas in a meeting four and a half decades in the making.
Fans can enjoy all of the above for as low as P999 for two games per single day pass. Tickets are already on sale at https://philippines-ticketing.worldcup.basketball/, with several packages and day passes from which to choose.