Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
    View Today
    Sun, Nov 5

    Matthew Aquino included in Japan's 25-man World Cup extended roster

    Hachimura, Watanabe headline Akatsuki Five pool
    Jun 19, 2023
    rui hachimura, matthew aquino, yuta watanabe, nick fazekas

    NBA players Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe are part of the 25-man extended roster of Japan that also includes Matthew Aquino for the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup.

    Hachimura and Watanabe, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets, respectively, during the recent NBA season, headlines the pool of Japan, which is co-hosting the World Cup with the Philippines and Indonesia.

    READ: No training break for Gilas dads on Father's Day

    Also in the extended roster is Aquino, son of PBA legend Marlou who plays for the Shinshu Brave Warriors in the Japan B.League. He is considered a local due to his Japanese lineage.

    Aquino already saw action in two games with Japan in the Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers, playing in a combined 16 minutes against Chinese Taipei and Australia.

    MORE FROM SPIN
    MORE FROM SPIN

      Nick Fazekas, Yuya Nagayoshi, Yuki Togashi, Yudai Baba, Koya Kawamata, Soichiro Inoue, Makoto Heijima, Yutaro Suda, Shuta Hara, Kai Toews, Keisei Tominaga, Aki Chambers, Tanketsu Harimoto, Hugh Watanabe, Yuki Kawamura, Luke Evans, Seiya Ando, Josh Hawkinson, Hirotaka Yoshii, Yudai Nishida, Ren Kanechika, and Akira Jacobs are also in Japan’s extended roster.

      Hachimura and Watanabe led the Akatsuki Five in scoring during Japan’s 2020 Olympic Games campaign. Watanabe also played for Japan in the Fiba Asia Cup last year in Indonesia.

      Baba has also made a name for himself outside Japan, playing for Melbourne United in Australia. He played for two games during the Fiba qualifiers.

      ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

      Read Next
      Watch Now
      Sorry, no results found for
    • POLL

      • Quiz

        Quiz Result