THROGGS NECK, NY – After leading Team Philippines through a successful Asia-Pacific qualifying campaign, Maritime College Head Men's Lacrosse Coach
Justin Manjares will once again be on the Filipino national team's staff at the 2023 World Championships. The Philippines will compete in Pool C at the tournament, which will take place from June 21-July 1 in San Diego.
"It's an honor to once again represent the Philippines at the World Championships," Manjares said. "Our first goal was to qualify, and we achieved it. Now we want to see how we stack up against the world's best. I think we're fully capable of reaching the medal round, which would be an incredible accomplishment for our team and the nation."
Thirty teams qualified for the World Championships and were divided into six pools of five. Pool A consists of the five highest-ranked nations (Australia, Canada, England, Haudenosaunee, United States), while the remaining pools were based on the teams' finish in continental qualifying, as well as making sure at least three continents were represented. The Philippines was drawn into Pool C with the Czech Republic, Israel, Puerto Rico and Sweden.
The Philippines opens the tournament against Israel on June 23, then faces Puerto Rico on June 24 before concluding pool play with matchups against the Czech Republic (June 25) and Sweden (June 26). Two of those games will be rematches of the 2018 World Championships, when the Philippines defeated the Czech Republic, 11-6, and fell to Israel, 11-8.
At the conclusion of pool play, the five group winners and top four second-place teams from Pools B-F will join the five Pool A squads in the medal round, which gets underway on June 27. The remaining 16 teams will continue to play for placement. Every game will be broadcast by ESPN+, with select contests also being shown on ESPN2 or ESPNU.
In 2018, the Philippines made its debut at the World Championships and finished 10
th overall after posting a 5-2 record. Manjares was the team's Director of Operations that year.
