RP cagers tipped to grab Asian Games limelight again

MANILA—They are not hot prospects for a medal, but the national cagers will understandably hog the limelight from among the 196 Filipinos seeing action in 29 sports in the Guangzhou Asian Games next month. “All eyes will be on basketball and how our team will perform,” said Philippine Sports Commission commissioner Chito Loyzaga of the RP five, which is returning to the Asiad after missing the 2006 Doha, Qatar, edition due to a Fiba suspension.
A defensive specialist during his prime, the eldest son of basketball legend Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga helped an RP team made up of PBA superstars capture the silver medal in the 1990 Asian Games held in Beijing.
It was the country’s best finish in the sport since bagging the 1962 Asiad gold in Jakarta.
Loyzaga said the fate of the Smart Gilas national team hinges on the groupings and pairings after the RP five’s opening all-or-nothing game against Saudi Arabia.
The cagers need to hurdle the Saudis or suffer the ignominy of going home after just one game—a prospect farthest from the minds of delegation officials.
“It depends on the luck of the draw and the pairings in the knockout phase,” said Loyzaga, the PSC’s chief representative in the RP Asian Games preparations.
Asian champion Iran, Qatar, Japan and Chinese-Taipei await the survivors of the RP-Saudi tiff and the Afghanistan-India match in the second round where the top four teams earn slots in the crossover quarterfinals.
In the other group, China, South Korea, Jordan and Uzbekistan will wait for the last two berths to be disputed by Hong Kong, Kuwait, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.
“We should first focus on overcoming this first hurdle (against Saudi Arabia),” said Loyzaga. “I heard we haven’t scouted them yet so it’s going to be a concern.”
The Nationals, skippered by Chris Tiu, will be reinforced by three PBA players—Sol Mercado, Asi Taulava and Kelly Williams.