Gilas Pilipinas was back in action on Thursday, June 30, in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers but lost to a superior New Zealand quintet, 106-60 at the EventFinda Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.

New Zealand used a suffocating defense to best the Filipinos. It did not help as well that the Philippines shoot poorly from the field and committed 19 turnovers.

The Philippines showed up with an 11-man squad composed of Kiefer Ravena, Dwight Ramos, RJ Abarrientos, Carl Tamayo, SJ Belangel, Geo Chiu, Francis “Lebron” Lopez, William Navarro, Dave Ildefonso, Rhenz Abando, and Kevin Quiambao.

Regardless, leading mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) continues to back the nationals. For its part, the telecommunications giant is bringing the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers hardcourt action closer to basketball fans through the Smart GigaPlay App.

“We are a hundred percent behind the whole Gilas team as they take a step closer to our end goal: to be able to make our country proud. This is also an important window for us as we are preparing to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023 with Japan and Indonesia. We wish the team the very best as they show the world the heart and fighting spirit of Filipinos,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, PLDT and Smart President and CEO.
Panlilio also serves as the Chairman of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 local organizing committee, Second Vice President of FIBA Asia Central Board, and President of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Smart is a global partner of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. The global event will be jointly hosted by the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia, with its final phase to be held here in Manila in August next year.

“Smart empowers Filipinos to do more with the Philippines’ fastest mobile data network. As a basketball-loving nation, we are here to enable our customers cheer for Gilas Pilipinas even when they are on the go and on their mobile phones,” said Francis Flores, Head of Consumer Business Group – Individual at Smart.

Subscribers can enjoy the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers live free of streaming charges for a limited time on the GigaPlay App.

Smart’s coverage of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers adds to GigaPlay App’s lineup of top-notch sports content, which includes the streaming of the UAAP, NBA, PBA, PVL, and VNL games.

GigaPlay is powered by Smart, the country’s fastest 5G mobile network, as reported by Ookla, the global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence.