Gilas cadets eye gold in Southeast Asian Games
MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas cadets were optimistic of their chances to clinch the gold medal in the men’s basketball event of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
But while they were showing improvements during practice, they still have more things to iron out, according to head FRENCH
GM Maxim Vachier-Lagrave defeated I an Nepomniachtchi in the final round to emerge as the clear winner in the 5th Sinquefield Cup, which concluded over the weekend in St. Louis, Missouri.
Vachier- Lagrave, who s l o wly o u t maneuvered Nepomniachtchi to take the point after 52 moves of a Sicilian Najdorf, took the $ 75,000 champion’s purse.
World champion Magnus Carlsen, trying to tie for first or maybe win the event in case Vachier-Lagrave draws or loses his final game, refuted Levon Aronian’s late knight sacrifice to win in 52 moves of a Ruy Lopez. Carlsen actually tied for second to third places with Viswanathan Anand, who also had chances to win the event. The Indian ace, however, was held by a terribly off-form Wesley So, and finished officially on third after tiebreaks. Carlsen pocketed $50,000 while Anand settled for $40,000.
The other winner of the final round was Peter Svidler, who defeated Fabiano Caruana in 44 moves of an English. Sergey Karjakin, who demolished So in Round 8, had a chance to beat Hikaru Nakamura, but the American defended well in an unfavorable position and drew.
The final standings: 1. Vachier-Lagrave, 6; 2-3. Carlsen, Anand, 5 ½ ; 4- 5. Aronian, Karjakin, 5; 6. Svidler, 4½; 7. Caruana, 4; 8. Nakamura, 3½; 9-10. So, Nepomniachtchi, 3. Carlsen,M (2822)-Aronian,L
(2809) [C88] Saint Louis (9) 2017 coach Joseph Uichico.
“We’re doing well so far,” Uichico said. But “we lack big men.”
“It’s hard to play without a big man but … we will try to maximize our strengths and see how we can make up for our deficiencies,” he said, stressing that they are “ready to play in the SEA Games.”
The Philippine men’s basketball team dominated the SEA Games basketball event 17 times, including the last 11 editions. The only time the country failed to win the gold was in 1989, when host Malaysia scored an upset victory.
Leading the way for Gilas 12 this year were Ilonggo Kiefer Ravena, Filipino-German center Christian Standhardinger, Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Kobe Paras, Raymar Jose, and Almond Vosotros.
Rounding out the roster were Baser Amer and Chris Michael Tolomia of Meralco Bolts, Von Pessumal of San Miguel Beermen, Kevin Ferrer of Barangay Ginebra Kings, Carl Bryan Cruz of Alaska Aces, and Jeth Troy Rosario of TNT KaTropa.
But Standhardinger and Cruz will not be available for the cadets in their first game against Thailand as they would still be with the Gilas Pilipinas squad playing in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon.
“They’ll join us in a later date, so that means we are practicing without them,” Uichico said. “We can’t do anything about it. We just have to work hard. We’re small so we have to box out and rebound. If we’re quicker, we run.”/