KRISTAN Yumul, Camille Nolasco, and BJ Villarin are out for redemption as they lead Gilas Pilipinas Women Youth in the 2022 Fiba Under-18 Women's Asian Championship Division B next week in Bangalore, India.
Gilas Women U-18 update
Failing to help the under-16 squad earn promotion to Division A and settling for third-place honors, the girls get one more shot at making it happen, this time in the under-18 category.
UC San Diego-commit Sumayah Sugapong beefs up the roster as she also teams up with Kate Bobadilla, Ryhanna Calvert, Sydney Heyn, Ashley Loon, Hope Manglal-Lan, Kalynne Mendez, Louna Ozar, and Candice Udal.
The Philippines is placed in Group A where it will play Thailand on Monday, Samoa on Tuesday, and Maldives on Wednesday.
The top-ranked team from the group will gain an automatic semifinals berth, while the second and third place teams will face off in the quarterfinal playoff.
Only the champion of the tournament slated from Sept. 5 to 11 will earn promotion to Division A come 2024.
Program director and head coach Pat Aquino shared that the team will leave for India on Saturday.
"It's 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 to Division A," he said.
It was in 2010 when the Philippines last fielded a team in the competition, with Lore Rivera, Danica Jose, Claire Aseron, Camille Claro, and Alyanna Nitorreda helping the country finish third in Level II.
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