By sweeping the FIBA Under-18 Women’s Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers recently, the Gilas Pilipinas U18 team took the first steps needed to regain Division A status. Putting on a masterful performance in Ratchaburi, the Philippine squad, coached by Julie Amos, swept the four-team field, routing host Thailand 103-58, Malaysia 100-68, and Indonesia 73-37.
Winning it all in SEABA means a lot to us,” said Amos. “We really wanted to qualify to the FIBA Asia Division B, and for us to be there we have to win against the host country Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.”
The opening victory over Thailand helped propel the Filipinas to the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup Division B tournament in Shenzhen, China from June 24 to 30.
“It was an impressive run by the girls showing what they are capable of,” said Gilas Women coach and U18 consultant Patrick Aquino.
“But definitely [we have] a long way to go. I told them that this is just the start and we have to focus on the next big thing which is to move from Division B to Division A this coming June for the Fiba Asia Cup in China.”
Division A in the U18 category boasts off the best eight teams in Asia, said Aquino, who steered the Philippine Youth team to the Division A back in 2010.
“From Division B, we want to level up to Division A,” he added.
The 49th-ranked Philippines is bracketed in Group B with No. 86 Lebanon, No. 51 Syria and No. 96 Maldives. Group A has No. 66 Iran, No. 48 Samoa, No. 73 Hong Kong and No. 100 Kyrgyzstan.
Gilas takes on Maldives on June 24, Lebanon on June 25 and Syria on June 26.
A rest day has been scheduled for June 27, with the classification and qualification, semifinals and the final phase set June 28 to 30.
