Cambodia climbs four spots in latest FIBA rankings

Cambodian basketball is slowly, but surely improving. This was according to the latest rankings released by the Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA). The rankings were released early this week. The Cambodian Men's national basketball team recorded 28.8 points, bringing it to the 159th spot among the 164 countries and territories included in the FIBA rankings. Cambodia's ranking improved by four spots. The same Cambodian team was ranked 163rd globally last year, local media reported. Cambodia is ranked just below Fiji and a notch ahead of Myanmar. Globally, the United States (US) remains the top basketball-playing country, followed by Spain, Australia, Slovenia, France, Serbia, Argentina, Lithuania, Italy and Greece. A US team bannered by NBA superstars Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Draymond Green won the Olympic basketball title in Japan last year. A Spanish squad spearheaded by the likes of Paul Gasol, Marc Gasol and Ricky Rubio topped the FIBA Basketball World Cup two years ago. Gilas Pilipinas (33rd globally) remains the number one national team in Southeast Asia, followed by Indonesia (91st), Thailand (107th), Singapore (112th), Malaysia (121st), Vietnam (140th) and Brunei (154th). Laos was not included in the rankings. The Cambodia Basketball Federation (CBF) remains upbeat, despite the many challenges Cambodian basketball is facing. The CBF cancelled or postponed many of their regular activities last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There is also the recurring problem of lack of manpower and funding. 'We should be able to move up at least five spots every year. Then we can get near the top 100 in the basketball world in 10 years. Let's get it done. We have the people to do it,' the CBF declared last year. Austin Koledoye, secretary-general of CBF, said in a prior interview that they spent the time looking through the reports, plans and programmes they are planning to implement once the pandemic is over. Among other things, their plans touched on preparations for the 2021 and 2023 SEA Games, women's participation in basketball, development of technical officials and a grassroots development programme. Tournaments, leagues and other basketball-related activities are expected to resume soon. Basketball is increasingly becoming popular in this football-mad country, according to local media reports. The annual Cambodian Basketball League (CBL) and High School Basketball League (HSBL) have been supplemented by many tournaments organised by Filipinos, Chinese, Americans and other foreign communities in Cambodia. The CBL is Cambodia's top basketball league, while the HSBL involves high school teams from Phnom Penh and a few other provinces. Locals and foreigners play in both leagues. The rise of basketball in Cambodia also benefits from the efforts of the USA-Cambodia Basketball Association (UCBA) and similar organisations. Last year, UCBA announced that it will field a 3x3 Men's basketball team for the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam. The next SEA Games was rescheduled to May 2022 due to the pandemic. UCBA is also helping the CBF organise Women's 3x3 teams for the 2021 and 2023 SEA Games, according to local media reports. The Cambodian 5x5 Men's team routed Myanmar and almost beat Malaysia and Indonesia during the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines. The Men's 3x3 squad, meanwhile, lost all six matches during the same tournament. The rankings consider the results of the past eight years and a national team's performance in FIBA-sanctioned competitions abroad.
Courtesy of: khmertimeskh.com