Stage of the strongest

Here’s a rare chance for you to own Molten’s 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers basketball stamped with the Gilas Pilipinas logo.

Sonak Corp., distributor of the Molten brand in the Philippines, is making available five composite leather and eight rubber basketballs, which mirror the official leather game basketball being used in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers all over the world, to 13 winners of a contest exclusive to The Philippine Star.

It’s easy to win. Just send an email to [email protected] or a message on twitter to @TheDeanQuinito or on instagram to @therealdeanquinito or a hard-copy entry to The Philippine Star office in Port Area, Manila, with the correct answers to three questions and a short essay on “Why qualifying for the 2019 FIBA World Cup is important to the Philippines.”

The three questions are: 1. Which country was the last to be beaten by the Philippines in the FIBA World Cup, what year and where? 2. What year and where did the Philippines finish third in the FIBA World Cup, the highest placing ever by an Asian country? 3. Which three countries won a consolidated bid to host the 2023 FIBA World Cup? As for the essay, it must be creative, concise and insightful.

Don’t forget to write your name, address, age, occupation (if student, what year, course, school), contact details (cellphone number or email address) in each entry or message with your answers and essay. Deadline for entries is Thursday, Aug. 16, at 5 p.m.

Molten is based in Hiroshima, Japan and its president/CEO Kiyofumi Tamiaki has been at the forefront of establishing the brand as FIBA’s official basketball for years. For the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, Molten has designed a logo with the theme “The Stage of the Strongest” symbolized by two Chinese dragons facing each other. In Chinese tales, a dragon’s greatest power is its ability to transform into human shapes. According to Molten, the ambition of a dragon is to achieve all of the skills to play the best basketball in the world and in order to do that, it transforms itself into a human. “As the dragon evolves and transforms itself into a human, so, too, will the graphic language,” said Molten.

To commemorate the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, Sonak has stamped the composite leather and rubber versions of the official basketball with the Gilas Pilipinas logo on one of the 12 panels. Both editions are the 12-panel, official size 7 basketballs with red-and-blue graphic designs on both sides. The official 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers game basketball is Molten’s BGL7X leather model. The composite leather version is listed as BGM7X-Q7Z-GP with a suggested retail price of P1,750. The rubber version is listed as BGR7-Q7Z-GP with a suggested retail price of P650. Both versions with the Gilas Pilipinas logo are available at selected sports retail stores nationwide.

Sonak president Anil Buxani said the collaboration of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and Gilas Pilipinas logos on the composite leather and rubber basketballs is “in support and recognition of the pride and energy our national team Gilas Pilipinas gives to our country for continuously doing its best to make the 2019 FIBA World Cup.”

After three qualifying windows, the Philippines has advanced to the second round of three more windows in the process of determining the seven countries in Asia/Pacific to represent the region at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. Since China is staging the 2019 conclave, it has an automatic slot in the competition so that the seven qualified countries will exclude the host nation.  In the fourth window to open the second round, the Philippines will play Iran on the road on Sept. 13 and Qatar at home on Sept. 17. In the fifth window, Gilas will face Kazakhstan at home on Nov. 30 and Iran, also at home, on Dec. 3. In the sixth window, the Philippines will battle Qatar on the road on Feb. 21 and Kazakhstan, also on the road, on Feb. 24.