Gilas boys battle archrival South Korea in FIBA U16 Asian Championship in Qatar
A FAMILIAR foe stands in the way of Gilas Pilipinas once more.
The Gilas Pilipinas boys collide with archrival South Korea in a knockout setto with a ticket in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship quarterfinals on the line at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Doha, Qatar.
Game time is at 12:30 a.m. (Manila time) for the qualification to the quarterfinals with the Filipino teens eyeing a breakthrough win against their counterparts from South Korea, also considered fierce nemeses of the Philippine seniors’ team.
Gilas, which finished seventh last edition also in Doha, is yet to score a victory against South Korea in the Asian youth tourney, bowing in their three meetings. The team suffered losses in 2009, 83-73, 2011, 67-58 and 2015, 77-74.
Now, they lock horns once again with the winner gaining a shot at automatic quarterfinalist Japan, which swept Group B.
Both teams are banking on a one-day layoff after the group phase, where they had contrasting campaigns against heavily-favored bets.
Gilas finished second in Group D with a 2-1 card behind leader China (3-0) as South Korea struggled to a 1-2 finish behind New Zealand (3-0) and Jordan (2-1) in Group C.
The Philippines bowed to China, 84-67, but bounced back with blowout wins against also-ran Kazakhstan, 66-42, and Malaysia, 75-52. South Korea, for its part, won against Bahrain, 89-62, but fell short to New Zealand, 83-81, and Jordan, 62-59.
Kieffer Louie Alas, one of the tournament’s leading scorers with 17.7 points per game in three starts, has been tasked to spearhead the Gilas’ campaign anew under the watch of coach Josh Reyes.
Meanwhile, Malaysia and Jordan slug it out in the other bracket with the survivor advancing to the quarterfinals against two-time champion Australia.
Other pairings feature India-Qatar and Iran-Lebanon with the winners marching on the Last 8 against New Zealand and China, respectively. — John Bryan Ulanday
