Perlas coach wary of cagebelles’ tough schedule

KUALA LUMPUR – Perlas Pilipinas tangles with Singapore at 7:15 p.m. tonight at the start of the SEA Games women’s basketball competition but Filipino coaches are more concerned on the Filipina cagebelles’ schedule, which they felt the host team has pulled some one-upmanship.

Perlas coach Patrick Aquino said Malaysia is obviously using its advantage as host to the hilt by making it difficult for its fancied rivals with a schedule that gives them little breathing room.

“No doubt, they consider us the toughest threat by looking at the schedule,” said Aquino, pointing to six games they’re playing in six straight days.

“All the teams have their rest days. We’re given our rest day in the last day of competition,” Aquino added.

To make things worst, Perlas Pilipinas is scheduled to play Malaysia at 11 a.m. Thursday after its 8:15 p.m. duel with Thailand on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Malaysia takes a rest Wednesday before playing the Philippines on Thursday.

Malaysia and Thailand are the dominant teams in SEAG women’s play with a combined gold-medal haul of 17.

But the Philippines now looms as a threat to the two following the Filipinas’ title run in the 2016 SEABA Championship in Malacca.

The Filipinas, however, must pace themselves to be ready for their back-breaking back-to-back games against the Thais and the Malaysians.

Neither Perlas can afford to take for granted Singapore tonight, Indonesia tomorrow, Myanmar on Tuesday and Vietnam on Friday.

It’s a one-round-robin competition among seven teams with the top three automatically bagging the gold, silver and bronze medals.

Malaysia and Indonesia wound up tied at 4-1 then Thailand and the Philippines deadlocked at 3-2 in Singapore in 2015. Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand finished 1-2-3 on the winner-over-the-other rule.