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| Gilas Pilipinas members with Coach Reyes (Photo: Twitter) |
When asked for the reason why Gilas was removed from the list, Reyes said it is because of the on-going tension between host country Taiwan and the Philippines stemming from the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman three weeks ago.
Reyes added that his team is now looking for a replacement tourney as part of their preparation for the FIBA Asia Cup in August.
Since Jones Cup's inception in 1977, the Philippines has won four times and is ranked second in the tournament's all-time list, next only to the United States, which has won fourteen titles.
This is truly unfortunate! I was personally looking forward to this tournament because I do think that our team is capable of defending the title. I also thought it was a move of indecency on the part of Taiwan to allow the political tiff to spill over to the sports side. But if our delegates' safety cannot be guaranteed, it's all good nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteHope you can drop by my blog, too, as I've written about this story too. Thanks!