MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines dropped three rungs down to No. 30 but kept its solid position among the top tiers in the Asia/Oceania region in the latest world ranking released by the international basketball federation after the four continental cups.
Australia, Iran, China, New Zealand and the Philippines are the Top Five in the merged Asia/Oceania region.
Asia Cup champion Australia moved one notch up to No. 9 in the world ranking while Iran stayed at No. 22, China dropped from No. 14 to No. 24 while New Zealand gained a big seven-rung improvement to No. 27.
Korea, third placer in the 2017 Asia Cup behind Australia and Iran, is at No. 6 followed by Jordan, Japan, Lebanon and Chinese Taipei to round out the Top 10.
From 11th to 20th are India, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
The Filipinos hung in the Top Five with their seventh-place finish in the Asian meet.
The Philippines was among the climbers in women’s world ranking after its seventh-place finish in the Asian joust in Bangalore, India.
That windup preserved Team Philippines' spot in Division I play in FIBA Asia women’s competition.
The Filipinas are now No. 47 in the world and No. 7 in Asia behind China, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, India and Kazakhstan.
Curiously, Southeast Asian Games medalist Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are ranked behind the Philippines.
The United States and Spain kept their 1-2 positions in both the men’s and women’s world rankings.
The Top 10 in the men’s side are the USA, Spain, Serbia, France, Argentina, Lithuania, Slovenia, Croatia, Australia and Brazil. In the distaff side, it’s the USA, Spain, France, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Serbia, Brazil and China.