President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. graced the opening ceremony of the FIBA Basketball World Cup (FBWC) 2023 to personally witness the opening game between the Philippines and Dominican Republic at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Also present during the opening of the game were FIBA President Hamane Niang, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Dominic Guevara, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr., and Ilocos Norte’s 1st District Representative Sandro Marcos.
As this year’s lead host of FBWC, the Philippines kicked-off the opening ceremony with a series of performances by Ben&Ben, The Dawn, and Sarah Geronimo followed by the official start of the ball game.
During the half-time break, Marcos met with the players of Gilas Pilipinas national team to show his support to the country’s representatives.
Keeping it close the entire game, Gilas Pilipinas fell short in conquering their opponent with a final score of 87-81 in favor of the Dominican Republic.
On another note, the Philippines officially set a new record attendance in FBWC history with a massive crowd of 38,115 spectators, breaking the 29-year-old world record of 32,616 spectators during the opening of FBWC 1994 in Toronto, Canada.
From August 25 to September 10, about four groups or 16 teams will play their games in the Philippines at the Araneta Coliseum and Mall of Asia Arena while the country’s co-hosts—Japan and Indonesia— will each cater two groups.
Finally, the top eight teams will converge in the Philippines for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship games. (PIA-3)
