MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas women U16 standout Kristan Yumul will continue to banner the future of the Gilas women's program as she is set to star in the FIBA U18 Women's Asian Championship Division B.
Yumul will join fellow U16 teammates Camille Nolasco, and BJ Villarin as the Filipinas will aim to move into the top division of the tournament set September 5-11 in Bangalore, India.
It can be recalled that Yumul and company failed to do so in the FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship earlier this year, where they settled for a bronze medal finish.
In the U16 tiff, Yumul normed 21.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.
Joining Yumul is Sumayah Sugapong, a Filipino-American talent who has committed to US NCAA Division 1 school UC San Diego.
Sugapong has been on the radar of Gilas women head coach Pat Aquino as he started recruiting stars in the US amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also on the roster are Sydney Heyn, Louna Ozar, Hope Manglal-Lan, Kalynne Mendez, Ashley Loon, Candice Udal, Kate Bobadilla, and Rhyanna Calvert.
This is the first time the Philippines will send a team to the youth tourney since 2010.
"It's a big challenge for us. Like in the under-16, this will be the first time in a long while that the Philippines is joining and we're optimistic that the strides we've done in developing women's basketball in the country could help us get promoted to Division A," said Aquino.
The team will leave for Bangalore on Saturday, September 3.
Gilas faces Thailand, Samoa, and Maldives in Group A.
They play three games in just as many days for the group stages.