MANILA, Philippines — Kumpirmadong pasok sa lineup ng Gilas Pilipinas men's team ang teenager na si Kai Sotto sa pinal na roster ng pambansang koponan na sasabak sa qualifiers ng FIBA Asia Cup 2021.
Makakasama ng 19-anyos na si Sotto ang sumusunod na mga manlalaro sa paghaharap ng Pilipinas at South Korea, Miyerkules:
- RJ Abarrientos
- Justine Baltazar
- SJ Belangel
- Javi Gomez de Liano
- Isaac Go
- Angelo Kouame
- William Navarro
- Mike Nieto
- Dwight Ramos
- Carl Tamayo
- Jaydee Tungcab
Here is our Gilas Pilipinas Men's Team FINAL 12 roster versus South Korea as they kick off their campaign in the #FIBAAsiaCup 2021 Qualifiers! #SBP #ParaSaBayan #LabanPilipinas pic.twitter.com/E0cxqdhYKv
— SBP (@officialSBPinc) June 15, 2021
"We already told Kai that he will be part of the team and he was really thrilled," ani coach Tab Baldwin sa ulat ng ESPN 5.
"Kai was able to join us in a previous training bubble when we were preparing to play the games in Doha, Qatar. We accomplished a lot with him during that time but unfortunately those games were cancelled."
Gaya ni Sotto, makakalaro rin ang ilang dating Batang Gilas players na sina Belangel, Tamayo at Abarrientos na pare-parehong magde-debut para sa kanilang senior outing sa nasabing asosasyon.
Pinayagan rin si Kouame kamakailan ng FIBA maglaro para sa Pilipinas bilang naturalized player.
Maliban sa laro bukas laban sa Korea, bagay na mapapanood sa TV5 at One Sports+ bandang 6 p.m., makakaharap din ng bansa ang team ng Indonesia sa ika-18 ng Hunyo.
Muling makakalaban ng Gilas ang South Korea sa ika-20 ng Hunyo.