FIBA 3X3 U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP : TEAM PHILIPPINES FINISHES AT 17TH PLACE

Team Philippines maintained its standing of 17th place at the recently concluded 2016 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan. Bannered by the Batang Gilas standout Joshua Sinclair, the other team members are John Clemente, Theo Josh Flores and Kyle Tan.

The team was drawn in Pool D and managed only to win once. The team first lost to defending champion New Zealand (11-21) and then to Brazil (14-20) on the 2nd day of the competition. Games of the team on the 4th day were both cancelled due to the weather. The games were rescheduled early the next day.

The Filipino teens was able to get into the Win column by beating Hungary (18-17). Unfortunately, the team did not qualify to the knockout stage after the last game loss to Spain (14-16).

Here is the video of the team's win over Hungary from the FIBA 3x3 official YouTube channel:

Image is from FIBA 3x3 Official Facebook page

FIBA 3X3 U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP : JOSHUA SINCLAIR TO LEAD TEAM PHILIPPINES

After the successful defense of the SEABA U18 crown and getting the title in a pocket tournament in Thailand, Joshua Sinclair will lead Team Philippines in the 2016 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan on June 1 to 5.

Sinclair, who is dubbed as the next Kobe Paras, will be joined by Theo Joshua Flores, John Lloyd Clemente and Kyle Tan.

Sinclair is currently ranked no. 12 in the Philippines in the FIBA 3x3 ranking. He was first sighted when he bannered the Manila South team in the Manila leg of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour last year. The team qualified to the tournament after the MVP 3x3 Cup last year.

It will be a tough assignment for the 13th seed young Filipinos. They are grouped in Pool D with Hungary (4th seed), Brazil (5), defending champion New Zealand (12) and Spain (20). All teams in this bracket participated in last year's world championship.

Despite the low seeding of the Philippines, Sinclair's inclusion in the tema has created so much buzz in the official FIBA website. Sinclair is dubbed as one of the 10 players to watch out for in this tournament and the Philippines - New Zealand game is included in the Top 5 match ups to watch in the men's tournament.

The group stage schedule of the Philippines are as follows:

Jun 2 - 6:10pm - vs New Zealand
Jun 2 - 7:40pm - vs Brazil
Jun 4 - 6:30pm - vs Hungary
Jun 4 - 8:20pm - vs Spain

Only the Top 2 teams in each pool after the group stage will advance to the knouckout bracket stage.

Good luck to the Philippine U18 3x3 Team! Laban Pilipinas!

Image is from the FIBA 3x3 2016 World Championship website.