#azkals

Sports is a popular hobby and form of competition in the Philippines. It integrates talent and teamwork. Coupled with a few controversies, it makes up for good entertainment for Filipinos. This paper examines the recent performances of the top 3 sports teams in the country, namely, Team Azkals (Football), Gilas Pilipinas (Basketball), and Dragon Warriors (Boat Racing) and ranks them according to these performances.

Team Azkals

Team Azkals is a household name in the Philippines made famous by their roster of not only talented but good-looking players. Back in 2019, the Philippine Azkals achieved history by defeating Tajikistan 2-1 to qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, marking the country's first ever qualifying in the continental championship's 62-year history. Then, it won 3-0 in the second round of the combined 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers, but it was not enough to please head coach Scott Cooper, who regarded the Azkals' performance as uneven. Cooper also mentioned that the Azkals showed discipline in their 2-0 loss to China, which contrasted with their performance against Guam.

Gilas Pilipinas

Gilas won its first two games in 2019, away in Japan and at home against Chinese Taipei, with Reyes still at the helm, before falling on the road to newcomer Australia in the first round of group stage matchups. Gilas then went on to finish last in the tournament in 2019, losing all of its preliminary round matches en route to their lowest result since hosting the event in 1978. Despite losing 76-83 against Serbia recently, the fresh-faced Gilas Pilipinas team made an impact on opponent head coach Igor Kokoskov, who praised the Filipinos' resiliency and teamwork for allowing them to come back from a 16-point second-half hole and almost pull off a major upset. The Gilas rallied from a 40-56 deficit to take the lead, 74-73, until Serbian behemoth Boban Marjanovic took control late to give the hosts the victory. Gilas Pilipinas has consistently won a handful of matches throughout the years.

Dragon Warriors

Dragon Warriors has consistently been making headlines due to their outstanding performance overseas. The Philippine Army Dragon Warriors took home a silver medal from the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in 2019 after winning the small boat 200-meter Seniors Open event. They were ahead of schedule, but the Thai team was able to close the gap in the last 10 meters, allowing them to win the gold medal. Moreover, the Philippine Dragonboat Team took home another set of gold medals from a very competitive meet in China, only a week after winning two gold medals in a major race in Singapore. The Philippine Canoe-Kayak Dragonboat Federation PCKDF dominated the 500m and 250m small boat open categories in the renowned 2019 Beijing International Dragonboat Tournament, which featured China's best under-23 teams.