ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Gilas Women eye big win vs Koreans for FIBA Asia semis spot

Gilas Women eye big win vs Koreans for FIBA Asia semis spot

Published Jul 17, 2025 02:07 pm

At A Glance

  • Gilas Pilipinas faces tall odds when it clashes with regional powerhouse South Korea for a spot in the semifinals of the 2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China Friday, July 18.
(FIBA)
(FIBA)
Gilas Pilipinas faces tall odds when it clashes with regional powerhouse South Korea for a spot in the semifinals of the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup at the Shenzhen Sports Center in China Friday, July 18.
Head coach Pat Aquino and Vanessa de Jesus believe their hard work will soon be rewarded with the right amount of grit and strategy against the Koreans who are 30 rungs higher in the world rankings.
“All the work is starting to pay off and I think we’ll keep surprising people," de Jesus said.
The crucial tiff is set at 7:30 p.m. with the winner completing the Final Four and arranging a semis clash against the formidable No. 2 Australia on Saturday, July 19. Meanwhile in the other bracket, No. 9 Japan and No. 26 New Zealand duke it out at 4:30 p.m. and the victor facing No. 4 China on the following day.
Jack Animam, who earned the Player of the Game nod in their triumph over Lebanon, and de Jesus are surely inspired to take the victory, especially since the two had already suffered heartbreak at the hands of the Koreans, three of which from the Hangzhou Asian Games, the FIBA Asia Cup, and the William Jones Cup earlier this month.
These setbacks are definitely boosting the Nationals' morale, but De Jesus believed that by trusting themselves and the system they will do better against their opponent and avoid another loss on the same knockout stage two years ago.
“I think for us, it is just playing as Gilas... at the end of the day I think about our game style, the way we prepare for games, the players, the talent we have, I think if we just buy into that and just focus on ourselves, and playing ourselves,” said De Jesus. “I think that would help us… just working on ourselves and just getting ready for the next one."
"We're glad to be competing and not just staying here in Division A, but we still have to improve more and we hope we level up again soon," added chief tactician Aquino.
Aside from the two veterans, Sumayah Sugapong and Naomi Panganiban, who has shown great composure in late game vs Lebanon, need to keep themselves poised in front of the talented and experienced Koreans as well.
Seasoned forward Kang Lee-seul is expected to lead the Koreans alongside Jihyun Park, and Park Ji-su, who was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in 2016 before she played for the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA from 2018 to 2021.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.