As expected, rising star Kai Sotto will lead the final 13-man roster of Batang Gilas for the International Basketball Federation Under-18 Asia Championship this August in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

The 7’1 Sotto will be joined by fellow teen giants 6’10 Filipino-Nigerian AJ Edu and 6’7 Carl Tamayo in the 13-man roster announced yesterday by team management.

Also in the line-up are Dalph Panopio from Italy, Ateneo’s Geo Chiu, La Salle’s Raven Cortez, San Beda’s Rhayyan Amsali, University of Santo Tomas’ Bismarck Lina, Far Eastern University’s Xyrus Torres alongside National University’s Gerry Abadiano and Joshua Ramirez.

Reinforcing them are college players Dave Ildefonso and Miguel Oczon who are also from NU.

Playing under the tutelage of Josh Reyes, Batang Gilas vies for a top four finish to punch a ticket to the FIBA U-19 World Cup next year.

Ranked 34th in the world, the national youth team is bracketed in Group B with powerhouse China, Lebanon and United Arab Emirates.

The core of the group led by Sotto is coming off a strong outing in the FIBA U-17 World Cup earlier this month in Argentina where they finished 13th out of 16 participating nations.

With Edu’s return in the national team to join Sotto at the forefront of Batang Gilas, the country is expected to make noise in the U-18 division following its fourth place finish behind Australia, China and New Zealand in the U-16 category last year.

The Fil-Nigerian Edu impressed in his first Batang Gilas tour of duty during the 2016 FIBA 3×3 World Cup alongside Amsali and now senior players Encho Serrano and Juan Gomex De Liano. JBU

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