By REYNALD MAGALLON
Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva could be in for a Gilas Pilipinas homecoming after being selected for the initial lineup for the 19th Asian Games which fires off on Sept. 23 in Hangzhou, China.
Romeo and Abueva were two of the new faces present during the first Gilas practice at the PhilSports Arena on Monday, Sept. 11.
The two last donned the country’s colors during the infamous Philippine-Australia brawl during the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers at the Philippine Arena in 2018.
They are joined by Mo Tautuaa and Jayson Perkins as the other new additions to the crew that featured the World Cup squad led by June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson along with pool members Calvin Oftana and Chris Newsome.
RR Pogoy, who was also part of the team that saw action in the global showpiece, was also in attendance but had to leave early due to a medical emergency.
Ange Kouame seemed to have finally settled his issues with his new team in Europe to join the Nationals along with fellow naturalized player Justin Brownlee who has fully recovered from a surgery to remove bone spurs in his foot just a month ago.
However, there is still a cloud of uncertainty with regards to the inclusion of Abueva and Perkins as their names were not included in the initial list of 60 players the Philippine Olympic Committee submitted to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC).
“This is what we expect,” said Gilas interim head coach Tim Cone about the roster for the Asian Games. “We’re still got Perkins and Calvin Abueva who are hundred percent sure to be on the team if they are allowed to be on the team.”
“They weren’t on the original of 60 that were submitted so because of Jamie’s (Malonzo) injury and Brandon’s (Ganuelas-Rosser) injury we are asking for a ruling with a ruling with Calvin and Perk,” he added.
Also present in the Gilas’ training was Stanley Pringle who is currently one of the team’s reserves and in the event that the HAGOC rejected the addition of Abueva and Perkins to the final roster.
Cone said they are still waiting for the decision from the organizing committee although the ruling may come out by the weekend which will be in time before the Nationals begin their closed-door training at the Inspire Sports in Laguna starting Saturday, Sept. 16.
Gilas is also set to play Korean team Changwon LG Sakers as part of its build up for the quadrennial meet
