Batang Gilas to Dubai | FIBA WORLD CUP U-17

The Philippine national Under-17 men’s basketball team flew to Dubai on Wednesday for its historic stint in the FIBA U-17 World Championship in United Arab Emirates.

Batang Gilas, composed of the country’s best young basketball players, will battle United States, Angola and Greece in Group A of the competition.

“We have a tough task ahead, but we are already here,” Batang Gilas coach Jamike Jarin said. “We want to show the world the class of the Filipinos in basketball, we will not back down.”



Batang Gilas will face Angola on Friday, Greece on Saturday and USA on Monday. All of the games will be broadcast live on TV5.

Batang Gilas punched a ticket to the world stage after a silver medal finish in the FIBA Asia U-16 Championship in Tehran, Iran last year.

The feat allowed the young Filipinos to duplicate the success of their senior counterparts, Gilas Pilipinas, who will also play in the prestigious FIBA World Cup in Spain this August.

The Philippines will be making its debut in the third edition of the U-17 World Championship after falling short in 2010 and 2012.

“Making the U-17 World is an achievement for all basketball-loving Filipinos. We made history,” Jarin said.

Facing taller and bigger opponents, Jarin admitted that the smaller Batang Gilas will have to make do with their resilience and big fighting heart to put up a good fight in the tournament.

“The biggest weakness is our height. We are always the smallest team in all tournaments we competed,” Jarin said. “But we will show how competitive Filipinos are. We will be fighting for every rebound, every loose ball, every possession.”

Group B features Japan, France, Canada and Australia while Group C has Puerto Rico, Italy, Spain and host UAE. Argentina, Serbia, China and Egypt comprise Group D.

Members of Batang Gilas are Southeast Asia U-16 tournament Most Valuable Player Jolo Mendoza, Matt and Mike Nieto of Ateneo, Arnie Padilla and Richard Escoto of Far Eeastern University, Paul Desiderio and Diego Dario of University of the Philippines, Carlo Abadeza and Mike Dela Cruz of La Salle Greenhills, Mikel Panlilio of International School and Renzo Navarro of San Sebastian College.

Watch the Event here live @ http://gilasbasketball.blogspot.com/p/fiba-asia-cup-2014-gilas-pilipinas-game.html
--Interaksyon