Akari-Rizal will represent the Philippines in the Women’s Basketball League Asia 2026 after the Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League champions were awarded a wild card slot for the continental club competition.

Akari-Rizal earned its place in the WBLA after surviving the Batangas Bluefire-New Zealand Valkyries in an epic three-game championship series to claim the WMPBL crown last July.

The Sparks will join five other league champions in the six-team tournament, which will be held in Bengaluru, India, from October 20 to 25, the FIBA Regional Office-Asia confirmed Thursday.

Joining Akari in the field are Sichuan Yuanda Meile of China, Denso Iris of Japan, KB Stars of South Korea, Cathay Life Pacific of Chinese Taipei, and Indian Railways, the champions of India.

Sichuan, the reigning Women’s Chinese Basketball Association champion, will look to extend China’s dominance in the WBLA to three straight titles.

Denso Iris earned Japan’s spot as the Women’s Japan Basketball League champion, while Cheongju KB Stars, who have Fil-Am Lexi Pana in their lineup, won the Women’s Korean Basketball League and Cathay Life Pacific topped the Women’s Super Basketball League.

Cathay Life Pacific is the only team in this year’s field to have appeared in the previous two editions of the WBLA.

(C) WMPBL

The 2026 tournament will mark the first FIBA Asia-level club competition hosted by an Indian city and the first edition of the WBLA to be staged outside China.

The inaugural WBLA was held in Sichuan in 2024, with Sichuan Yuanda Meile winning the title, while Dongguan hosted the 2025 edition and saw Dongguan New Century emerge as champion.

Bengaluru has extensive experience hosting FIBA Asia competitions, particularly in the women’s game. The city staged the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in 2017 and 2019, the FIBA Women’s U16 Asia Cup in 2017, and the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup in 2018 and 2022.

It also hosted the former FIBA Asia U18 Championship in 2004, as well as the FIBA Asia General Assembly in 2019 and the FIBA Asia Mid-Term General Assembly in 2025.

FIBA is expected to announce the WBLA 2026 groupings and full schedule at a later date.

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After 642 days, Kai Sotto is officially back with Gilas Pilipinas.

The 7-foot-3 big man will headline an all-Filipino Gilas Men team when they take on Jordan on Friday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

This marks the first time Sotto will suit up for the Philippines since their game against Hong Kong in the first round of the 2026 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Cut from the team are RJ Abarrientos and Justin Arana.

Abarrientos was part of the Window 3 squad that lost to New Zealand and Australia on the road, while Arana was called up to complete the 14-man pool following Justin Brownlee’s injury.

Also returning to the team are Scottie Thompson and CJ Perez, who both missed Window 3 due to injury.

The rest of the squad are holdovers from the Window 3 team: Kevin Quiambao, Juan Gomez de Liano, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, AJ Edu, Troy Rosario, June Mar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, and Justine Baltazar.

Gilas currently sits at 2-4 in Group E, while Jordan is 5-1.

Jordan will be led by Jalen Harris, Ahmad Al Dwairi, and Amin Abu Hawwas.

They will be joined by Ahmad Alhamarsheh, Mohammad Hussein, Fadi Mustafa, Said Al-Deen Saleh, Hadi Alshami, Rahwi Kilani, Omar Salman, Malek Kanaan, and Abdullah, the son of Hakeem Olajuwon.

Team Falcons also competed in the 45th William Jones Cup, finishing in sixth place.

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Nigeria’s D’Tigers opened the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 African Qualifiers on a disappointing note, falling 78–62 to Cameroon in their Group E encounter at the Salle Multidisciplinaire de Radès in Tunisia on Thursday.

The defeat was particularly frustrating for Nigeria after the team entered the fourth qualifying window on the back of three consecutive victories and with a 4–2 record from the opening round. Cameroon, meanwhile, had started the second phase as Group E leaders at 5–1.

D’Tigers struggled to find their rhythm offensively from the opening quarter, trailing 23–14 after the first 10 minutes. Nigeria improved slightly in the second period, matching Cameroon 18–18, but still went into halftime nine points behind at 41–32.

The Nigerians were unable to produce the required response after the interval, with Cameroon taking the third quarter 19–16 before finishing strongly with an 18–14 advantage in the final period.

The shooting numbers told much of the story. Nigeria made just 24 of 72 field-goal attempts for 33.3 percent, while their three-point shooting was particularly poor at 17.8 percent. Cameroon, by comparison, converted 40 of 80 field-goal attempts and shot 27.6 percent from beyond the arc. Nigeria also shot 66.7 percent from the free-throw line, compared with Cameroon’s 74.1 percent.

Efe Abogidi was Nigeria’s leading statistical performer with an efficiency rating of 14, while Cameroon’s Yves Missi produced the standout individual performance of the game with an efficiency rating of 30.

The result represents a setback for D’Tigers in a highly competitive Group E, where every result is crucial because the records from the first round are carried into the second phase. FIBA’s qualification system will see the top two teams in each second-round group, alongside the best third-placed team, qualify for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Qatar.

Nigeria’s next opportunity to respond comes almost immediately when they face South Sudan on Friday, August 28, in another crucial Group E encounter at the same venue. The game is scheduled for 13:00 local time in Radès.

The matchup presents another major test for D’Tigers, with South Sudan regarded as one of Africa’s leading basketball nations. FIBA noted ahead of the window that South Sudan are the continent’s top-ranked team and highlighted the history between the two sides, with Nigeria having won both of their previous meetings.

With Cameroon already putting pressure on the rest of the group, Nigeria will need a much-improved offensive display against the Bright Stars. The D’Tigers must quickly recover from their poor shooting night and rediscover the confidence that carried them through three straight wins in the previous window.

The road to Qatar remains open, but Thursday’s defeat has made the margin for error considerably smaller. D’Tigers now face the immediate task of responding against South Sudan and keeping their World Cup qualification campaign firmly on track.

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