Young Gilas battles Thais, eyes 2nd spot

Gilas Pilipinas Youth will look to secure a favorable route in the postseason when it takes on Thailand on Monday in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium in Ahmedabad, India.

Tip-off is at 4 p.m. (Manila time), with Gilas Youth aiming for second place in Group A and hoping to bounce back from its 69-107 loss to defending champion Australia last Saturday.

It will be a rematch of the SEABA U18 Championship final, with the Philippines looking to continue its dominance over the Thais.

With Australia poised to beat Chinese Taipei, Gilas Youth will likely have to go through the playoff round to continue its bid for a berth in the 2027 FIBA U19 World Cup in Pardubice, Czech Republic.

While Gilas Youth is expected to have the edge on paper, assistant coach Andre Santos told DAILY TRIBUNE that his players cannot afford to be complacent against a hungry Thailand side looking to mess up their plans.

“We just expect Thailand to come out hungry, knowing that their backs are against the wall. We’ll be ready for them, and we look forward to clinching the No. 2 seed in our group,” Santos said in an online conversation.

“We want to head into the knockout stage with confidence and in high spirits.”

Luke Edward Atacador and George Aidan Green will look to build on their solid performances after scoring 12 points each against Australia.

Ethan Aguas, meanwhile, will need to bounce back after being held to just six points on 1-of-6 shooting against the defending champions.

Ronnie Allsopp will be Thailand’s main weapon after scoring 15 points and grabbing five rebounds in its 62-110 loss to Chinese Taipei last Friday.