Road to redemption for Gilas U-18 belles starts against Thais

Kristan Yumul: Gilas’ top gun —FIBA.COM

The Philippines’ quest for redemption on the youth cage level begins Monday when the Gilas Women Youth battle Thailand in the 2022 Fiba Under-18 Asian Championship in India.

Denied a Division A promotion during the U16 showcase in Jordan last June, the Nationals are hoping to get their bid off on the right foot in Bangalore.

“We are really excited to be facing talent around the world and putting our skills up to the test,” program director Pat Aquino told the Inquirer on Sunday.

“We’re looking forward to expanding our game and facing a new level of physicality,” added the decorated Aquino of the match that tips off at 6:15 p.m. (Manila time).

The Philippines is also scheduled to play Samoa and Maldives in Group A, needing no less than a sweep if it hopes to reach its goal. The Samoans will be backstopped by four aces of the squad that won the U16 Asian Championship.

The top finisher of the group phase gains outright passage to the Final Four. Otherwise, a country will plunge into a qualification match just to earn the right to play in the semifinals.

Seeking promotion

The grand prize of the tournament is the privilege of being promoted to the next level which features Australia, Japan, China, South Korea, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia.

Three standouts from that third-place finish in the U16 games last June are set to reprise their roles in the campaign: Kristan Yumul, Camille Nolasco and BJ Villarin.

Yumul, the second-best scorer of that tournament, will be at the cutting edge of a squad that will flaunt length and versatility.

Backstopping the sweet-shooting Yumul are the newcomers in UC San Diego-bound Sumayah Sugapong and French league campaigner Louna Ozar—two guards standing 5-foot-8.Manning the frontlines are 6-foot Sydney Heyn and 5-foot-11 Candice Udal.

Also part of the team are Ryhanna Calvert, Kate Bobadilla, Ashley Loon, Hope Manglal-Lan and Kalynne Mendez.“[This] is a big challenge for us. Like in the under-16, this will be the first time in a long while that the Philippines is joining and we’re optimistic that the strides we’ve done in developing women’s basketball in the country could help us get promoted,” Aquino said.

The Philippines battles Samoa on Tuesday and then the Maldives the next day. INQ