Picked the wrong sport to love? Too short? Ella Fajardo makes an argument for Philippine basketball despite losing to Brazil and Hungary in the FIBA Women's World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournament.
Too small. Picked the wrong sport. Should've focused on football and other sports!
Gilas Pilipinas Women's five-foot-five point guard Ella Fajardo has probably read them all.
And after the 97-60 loss to world number 16 Hungary in the FIBA Women's World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournament, it probably stings.
[ALSO READ: Ella Fajardo, Gilas Pilipinas Women absorb 37-point loss to taller Hungary in FIBA Women's World Cup Pre-Qualifiers]
"Tough loss. I think this one actually hurts more than the first game," she remarked after the game.
The world number 40 Philippines started their Group C campaign by pushing world number eight Brazil to the brink. The South Americans had the narrow victory, 77-74.
"The first game, we felt like underdogs, but we felt like we were the bigger person on the court," she noted.
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It didn't go quite as well against the taller Hungarians. Asked about the 57-24 difference when it came to rebounding, she grimaced.
The agenda was to double the European opponents at first, but the Filipinas had to change it up as Fajardo noted how good the bigs were in kicking out the ball.
"It's a lot of things that make us feel tired."
"We're good on the downstairs side," she said, as the Philippines had the 11-7 edge in steals.
But Fajardo, a rising senior of the Iona University women's basketball team in the United States, wants to make a point about the development of the Gilas Pilipinas Women.
"I know this game isn't part of our identity as a team, and I know we're gonna bounce back stronger," she said. "I don't want to disregard Asian basketball, because although we lost the game, that doesn't identify the reason why we're here."
"We're here for a reason, for a purpose, and we deserve to be here," Fajardo added. "Even coming from Americans, people think, 'Oh we're short, they piced the wrong sport to love.' Because we love basketball so much in the Philippines."
"Hopefully you guys see that we pour our hearts out when we're out there in the court. That's why this loss hurts so much, because there's something inside of us. We're not big physically, but our hearts are way bigger than that."
There's plenty of lessons to unpack for a squad whose average age is 22. For Fajardo, the goal is to set the standard higher, to raise the quality, and to encourage more Filipinas to join their ranks.
There's at least one more game for the Filipinas. After facing South American basketball with Brazil, European basketball with Hungary, the Philippines would now have to take on African basketball with the undefeated Senegal.
The Filipinas are in the bottom of Group C. Only the top two teams will reach the crossover semifinals. The winner of the tournament gets the ticket to the Qualifying Tournament.
"We have a deep pocket to get into," coach Pat Aquino said, "Show the world this is how Filipino basketball plays."
The Philippines will play Senegal on August 22, Thursday, 5 p.m., Philippine time.