PH squad bracketed with USA in Fiba U17 World Championships

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines, bracketed with basketball-powerhouse United States, faces a tough preliminary round in the Fiba Under-17 World Championship slated in June.

After the draw held Thursday (Manila time), the PH Youth squad also joined Angola and Greece in group A and will face the top squads in group B if they advance to the quarterfinals.

Japan, France, Canada and Australia made up group B, Puerto Rico, Italy, Spain and host United Arab Emirates went to group C while Argentina, Serbia, China and Egypt completed group D.

The Philippines, like its senior counterparts, qualified for the Worlds after bagging the silver medal in the Fiba Asia U16 championships last year.

The Filipinos fell to China in the final round of the competition held at Tehran, Iran but it was still the best-ever finish for the Philippines.

From just 12 countries in the 2012 edition of the biennial meet, youth squads from 16 nations will battle it out this year in Dubai, UAE from August 8 to 16.