INQUIRER Sports

THE REINGING Liga Pilipinas national champions M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños are bracing themselves for yet another run of perfection when they host a preseason tournament against three other Liga teams next week before capping it off with a couple of games against the Smart Gilas RP team later this month.

Coming to Cebu to test the mettle of M. Lhuillier are the Trace-Laguna Stallions, the Taguig-Batang Global and the GenSan-MP Warriors of boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao. The mini-tournament kicks off on Feb. 15 and will last until the 18th.

The Niños of famed head coach Raul ?Yayoy? Alcoseba are raring for some action after coming away with the championship in the third conference of the Liga Pilipinas last year, winning 21 straight games in the process. Doing it for another straight year remains a daunting task for the Ninos but Alcoseba said that they are more than up to the challenge.

?We have to see. You never know with the Liga since the league is so balanced. But we have been practicing for weeks already so we'll use this preseason tournament to see where we stand,? said Alcoseba in an interview yesterday.

Capping off their busy month will be two games against the formidable Smart Gilas RP Team on Feb. 26 and 27 at the Cebu Coliseum. Correspondent Jonas Panerio