MANILA — The Gilas Pilipinas Women are headed to the 2025 FIBA 3x3 U23 World Cup later this year following a masterful performance at the FIBA 3x3 Youth Nations League Asia-Pacific 1 in Doha, Qatar.

The Philippines ruled four of the six stops in the competition, finishing with 530 points, which was 50 points clear of second-ranked New Zealand.

The team composed of Cielo Pagdulagan, Kristine Cayabyab, Cheska Apag, Jem Meniano, Elaine Etang, and Kacey Dela Rosa won Stops 1, 2, 4, and 5 to book their ticket to China.

“We’re really proud of their accomplishments in Doha,” said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Erika Dy. “Our women’s teams have always been capable of competing against the best in the region and now the best in the world. They just needed the support to give them the opportunities to prove their skill.”

Thanks to the meteoric rise of the Gilas Women, the Philippines stormed to 14th spot — up eight rungs — in the FIBA 3×3 world rankings. This will be the highest rank that a Gilas team has reached in FIBA 3x3.

“Thanks to the support of the SBP, the schools, coaches and their officials. It was a big help in making sure we can prepare. Also, the challenge for me was to prepare them early as I also had to leave a week before the tournament to go with our main team to Europe for another tournament, but with the help of my coaching staff led by Coach Paolo Layug and Nico Francisco, the preparations were done well,” said head coach Anton Altamirano.

“It’s always an amazing feeling when you accomplish something that nobody expected. We came into the tournament with a goal to win some stops as we failed to do it last year. But when we won our first game against New Zealand, we felt we could do it. I’m really happy not just because we qualified but because I saw how well the girls prepared and did everything we told them to do no matter how hard it was.”

The Philippines’ climb up the global ladder also meant the women’s squad is now the fourth-best team in Asia behind Japan, Mongolia, and China.

“Under the direction of our Executive Director Erika Dy and the support of Strong Group Athletics (SGA) led by Frank Lao and Jacob Lao, Uratex Dream led by Peachy Medina, Smart and MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF), our Gilas 3x3 Women have everything they need to compete at a high level,” said Altamirano.

“Ranking 14th in the world is a great achievement and I believe it’s only the start.”