Game Monday(Futian Sports Park, Shenzhen, China)4:30 p.m. — Philippines vs Maldives
GILAS PILIPINAS women begin its quest for Division A promotion against Maldives in the opener of the 2024 FIBA Under 18 (U18) Women’s Asia Cup Division B at the Futian Sports Park in Shenzhen, China.
Game time is at 4:30 p.m. with the Filipina ballers eyeing a flying start to their qualification bid in the bigger stage among the Asia’s titans. The wards of coach Julie Amos brim with confidence in getting the job done following a dominant performance in the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) Qualifiers marked by an average winning margin of 37.6 points.
Ava Fajardo, Gabby Ramos, Alicia Villanueva, Tiffany Reyes, Maria Lapasaran, Ashlyn Abong and Margarette Duenas will spearhead Gilas, which clobbered Thailand, 103-58, Malaysia, 100-68, and Indonesia, 73-37 en route to Division B qualification.
In the Division B, Gilas will also duke it out against Lebanon on Tuesday and Syria on Wednesday in Group B with hopes of finishing in the top two for an automatic semifinal ticket.
Group A in the second-level Asian tourney running until the weekend features Iran, Samoa, Hong Kong and Kyrgyzstan.
Only the champion team from Division B will gain a promotion to Division A, where Australia, Japan, China, South Korea, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei as well as former Division B winners Indonesia and Malaysia will also slug it out simultaneously in China for Asian supremacy.
The Gilas U16 team had already achieved the feat in its age bracket, ruling the Division B via sweep last year to barge into the Division A as the newest squad.
Under the overall guidance of program director and women’s national team head coach Patrick “Pat” Aquino, that dream for the U18 team this time around is for the taking in Shenzhen. — John Bryan Ulanday
