MALACCA, Malaysia—After breezing past its first two opponents and likely to win handily against Vietnam in its scheduled game, the tough grind begins for Perlas Pilipinas, which will face a powerhouse Indonesian squad in the SEABA Women’s Championship at the Bukit Serindit Indoor Stadium here today, Friday.
The Filipinas will square off against the Indonesians, the same team which defeated them in last year’s Southeast Asian Games, at 8 p.m.
Indonesia will be bannered by Gabriel Sofia, a 6-foot-5 center who did most of the damage against the Filipinas during their SEA Games campaign last year in Singapore.
Head coach Patrick Aquino is hoping the Philippines can carry the momentum of its huge wins over Singapore and Laos, which it defeated by a combined margin of 173 points.
The Blackwater Women-backed Perlas Pilipinas waltzed past Singapore, 69-43, at the start of its campaign while demolishing Laos with a whopping 147-point win, 179-32 on Wednesday. The Filipinas are expected to run roughshod over Vietnam, now being coached by Filipino mentor Jojo Castillo, who described his team as a work in progress.
For Aquino, the lopsided wins in their first two games not only gave the Philippines some security in case the team falls in a multiple team tie that needs quotient. It is also one way of boosting the confidence of the members of the squad, particularly the newcomers and relievers while allowing his stalwarts to take some breather.
