TIANJIN, China — If ever the Powerade-Team Pilipinas fails to earn an outright berth for the World Championship next year, there is still another route going to Turkey.

That is what Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) Executive Director Noli Eala revealed Thursday, a day after meeting officials of the FIBA-Asia.

According to Eala, the fourth and fifth placers of the event might be invited as wild card qualifiers in the Turkey World Championship next year.

Initially, only the top three placers of this tournament earn outright berths to the World Championship.

“The fourth placer here or even the fifth placer might be invited to a wild card qualifier,” Eala said. “So it’s very important to us to finish among the top five.”

“It’s not yet sure but since there will be a wild card qualifier, they were saying that two per zone will go, so that’s probably the fourth and fifth placers. So there are 10 countries that will be invited, so it’s still a good opportunity,” he added.

The final decision or invitation, however, will come from the world governing body FIBA.

The Philippines plays Jordan Thursday, with the winner moving to the semifinals.

But if the Nationals drop their game against the Jordanians, Eala said that the RP Team should continue to strive to finish fifth for a possible invitation from FIBA in the wild card qualifier.

“Of course, we’re hoping that we can earn an outright berth. But if not, it’s still very important that we finish at the top five,” he said.

Eala said that he already talked to PBA commissioner Renauld “Sonny” Barrios about the scenario. Barrios said that he will discuss it with national team mentor Joseller “Yeng” Guiao.