Petron seeks outright semis slot

Unbeaten Petron eyes an outright semifinals slot when it tangles with Foton Thursday in the Belo-Philippine Superliga Invitational Conference at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

The rebooted Blaze Spikers are on a three-game run, but will be taking on a Tornadoes squad that is finding their groove after suffering an opening-day defeat.

Cignal will battle Generika-Ayala, while Cocolife takes on fellow newbie Sta. Lucia in the triple-header that starts at 3 p.m.

For coach Moro Branislav, Foton has what it takes to head to the semifinals despite missing key players Jaja Santiago and EJ Laure, who are competing in the ongoing UAAP.

“In my opinion, we can make it to the semifinals,” said the Serbian mentor. “That’s why this victory over Petron is very important to my team. This will gauge how we will perform in the next round.”

The top three teams after the single-round eliminations will advance to the semifinals where they will be joined by Kobe Shinwa of Japan.