By REYNALD MAGALLON
The Gilas Pilipinas girls team is already in Shenzhen, China as it vies for promotion in the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup division B which is set to formally fire off on Monday, June 24.
The Gilas Girls, which secured a ticket to the competition following a dominant three-game sweep in the SEABA qualifiers, arrived on Saturday, June 22, giving them enough time to acclimatize themselves before plunging back into action in the group phase of the tournament.
Under the tutelage of head coach Julie Amos and under the watchful eyes of program director, Pat Aquino, the Filipinas are looking to not only best their third place finish in the last edition but to finally claim the long-coveted promotion.
The Filipinas, ranked No. 49 in the world, open their bid against No. 96 Maldives on Monday, June 24 before taking on No.86 Lebanon the next day. Gilas Girls then wrap up their group stage schedule against ranked No.51 Syria on Wednesday June 26.
The other group meanwhile featured Samoa (48), Iran (66), Hong Kong (73) and Kyrgyzstan (100).
Expected to lead the charge for Gilas are holdovers from the U16 roster Ava Fajardo, Naomi Panganiban and Gabby Ramos along with Alicia Villanueva who has been a revelation for the Nationals during their SEABA tilt.
Gilas needs to finish atop its group to get an outright semifinals berth in the tournament. The second and third placers of each group will then figure in a play-in for the last two spots in the semis while the last placed squad gets eliminated.
In the 2022 edition, bannered by Kate Bobadilla, Sumaya Sugapong, Louna Ozar and Kristan Geyl Yumul, Gilas went on to sweep the elimination to advance directly to the semifinals.
They however suffered a heartbreaking 66-65 semis defeat against eventual champions Malaysia before settling with a third place finish with a 84-68 demolition of Samoa.
