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Preserving a little pride is Gilas Philippines' goal in their final match of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup where they host Iran at 8:00 pm at the Wukesong Sports Arena in Beijing, China.
Gilas Philippines will need to win this battle in the wake of a devastating campaign involving a neck-to-neck campaign against Italy, Serbia and Tunisia and a devastating overtime defeat against Angola.
Team Philippines is among the teams that have yet to win and is likely to compete in the 32-team competition.
Joining Team Philippines (0-4) in this round are Cote d'Ivoire (0-4), South Korea (0-4), Montenegro (0-3), Japan (0-3), Jordan (0- 3) and Senegal (0-3).
In their final match on Friday night, Gilas Philippines, contrary to their expectations, tasted a major defeat against Tunisia, 86-67.
Gilas Philippines's caliphate was lifted even further after China won the match in Korea in another match that saw the Filipino hopeful qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
With the win, China will be the top of all Asian teams and it will be great to see them join host Japan as representatives of Asia.
Japan has already provided space at the Tokyo Olympics as a benefit of hosting every four-year competition.
At this point, Gilas Philippines needs to put aside all their bad experiences so that they can focus on their fight against Iran which is their final task.
If Gilas Pilipinas wins this contest, it will hopefully ease some of the pain they have experienced in this competition.
In the previous World Cup qualifiers, Team Philippines has not lost to Iran in two home-and-away games.
However, Gilas Philippines naturalized player Andray Blatche showed no action.
In 2015, Gilas Philippines under Blatche's leadership in Iran led by giant 7'1 ”Hamed Haddadi.
Haddadi, who has not played in Iran in the previous World Cup qualifiers, is back in action this season with Nikkhah Bahrami.
Nevertheless, Gilas Philippines is hopeful that Iran will be able to withstand the loss of the Filipinos in the Iranians' game.
The Score of each:
Tunisia (86) - Abada 16, Roll 13, Mejri 12, Rhomdane 10, Hadidane 10, Mabrouk 8, Mouli 6, Ghyaza 5, Slimane 3, Kniqua 2, Abbassi 1.
Gilas Team Pilipinas (67) - Blatche 22, Rosario 9 , Barroca 7, Perez 6, Fajardo 6, Bolick 5, Ravena 5, Lee 3, Aguilar 2, Pogoy 1, Norwood 0, Almazan 0.
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