SPORTS | BASKETBALL
Blacktown cager may join
Gilas for 2023 World Cup
NINETEEN-year-old Joshua Sinclair
from Sydney’s western suburbs is in the
pool of 23 players bidding for selection
to the Philippines’ national basketball
team Gilas Pilipinas for the 2023 FIBA
Basketball World Cup.
The Philippines’ selection panel of coaches led
by Chot Reyes picked Sinclair from players aged
between 16 and 25 years with Filipino heritage
across the world.
Other overseas young players in pool were five
Filipino-Americans, one Filipino-New Zealander,
and one Filipino-Englishman.
"It means so much to me,” Sinclair told AK. “I
was really surprised when I found out that I was
selected.
“I haven't been able to play basketball for the
last year and a bit, and yet they still selected me out
of all the other possible candidates who have been
playing without injury for the last year and a bit.
“Whether I make it into the team or not, I will
give it my all and I'm sure I'll become a much better
person and player from this experience. I have
nothing to lose; in my eyes I've already won just for
20
By VIOLI CALVERT
being selected to be in the pool.”
Sinclair stands 6ft 4in and can play as shooting
guard, power forward, or small forward.
Sinclair led the Philippines’ Batang Gilas U18
team to win the gold medal on the 10th South East
Asia Basketball Association championship in April
2016.
He top-scored with 15 points as the Philippine
youth team crushed Thailand, 86-49, for the
championship.
Sinclair played for Ateneo de Cebu high
school before being signed up to play for the
Bulldogs, the basketball team of National
University where he studies AB degree in English.
The 2023 FIBA World Cup will be hosted
jointly by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia
and will comprise 32 teams, 16 to play in
the Philippines, eight in Japan, and eight in
Indonesia. n
FEBRUARY 2018 | AK NewsMagazine, Vol 8 No 5
www.kalatas.com.au