Gilas girls in early key tiff vs Thai rivals

MANILA, Philippines — The Gilas Pilipinas U18 women’s team will be tested right away as it faces host Thailand in a must-win opener of the SEABA U18 women’s tournament which kicks off Friday in the province of Ratchaburi.

The 6 p.m. game (Manila time) against the Thais serves as the outright gold-medal play as the two other participating teams in Malaysia and Indonesia have already qualified to the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup Division A.

Winner between the Filipinas and the host country will qualify to the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup Division B next month in Shenzhen, China

The team will be leaving for Thailand today.

Ava Fajardo is the skipper of the squad that also includes Gabby Ramos, Naomi Panganiban, Alyssa Rodriguez, Jolzyne Impresso, Margaret Villanueva, Aubrey Lapasaran, Sophia Canindo, Ashley Abong, Tiffany Reyes, Venice Quinte, and Margarette Duenas.

“Playing against the host country and against Thailand pa, talagang gulatan yan. Ang usapan namin lahat hindi namin sila padidikitin. As much as possible, we’ll dictate the tempo of the game from the first quarter,” said head coach Julie Amos.