Gilas Pilipinas Faces Disappointing 44-Point Loss to China at Asian Games

NAGOYA, Japan – The sting of Gilas Pilipinas’ collapse to China nearly kept Sen. Bong Go from boarding his flight.

A self-confessed “true-blue” basketball fan, Go said the 44-point hammering at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 was so painful he considered scrapping his trip to this bustling Japanese city altogether.

They had watched the game at the Senate. They clung to small hopes.

“We were watching at the Senate and cheering for Gilas not to lose by 37 points,” Go recalled during a dinner on Saturday, Sept. 19, hosted by Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Pato Gregorio.

Instead, the final margin was worse. Much worse.

Bringing only its “second team,” Gilas absorbed a 61-105 beating in the preliminary round against a rampaging Chinese squad, a defeat that abruptly ended the Philippines’ reign in the continental showpiece. The gap on the scoreboard mirrored the silence that followed back home.

“Like every Filipino fan, I was really disappointed. Imagine, losing by 44 points,” Go said, the frustration still evident days after the result.

He came anyway.

Determined to stand by Filipino athletes in the middle of a difficult campaign, Go arrived in Nagoya on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and was at courtside the next day to watch Alas Pilipinas Women take on Kazakhstan. The loss to China lingered in conversations, but his presence underlined a simple point: the support would not disappear with one disastrous night.

Go has embraced his role as one of the country’s loudest cheerleaders in international competitions, visible in arenas, dugouts, and dining halls where athletes gather after games. This time, though, the cheerleader wants answers.

After the Games, he said, there will be a thorough look at how the Filipino contingent performed, with Gilas certain to be at the center of that review.

“Need to know why this happened,” Go said.

The question now hangs over the program: how did a regional power end up on the wrong side of a 44-point rout—and what will change before the next time the Philippines shares a court with Asia’s best?