Pinays, Thais forge title duel

MANILA, Philippines - Host Philippines and defending champion Thailand sealed a showdown for the seventh SEABA Women’s Championship crown as they overwhelmed separate rivals yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The Discovery Perlas ng Pilipinas cagebelles blasted Indonesia, 82-46, while Thailand ripped Singapore, 83-47, to storm to their third straight victories and secure the two berths in the one-game championship.

The triumphs served as workouts for the unbeaten Filipinas and the Thais who are slated to slug it out today in the last day of elims before mixing it up for the crown tomorrow.

“This game (today) will be some sort of a chess match, in which we’ll try to figure out what the other’s move will be,” Ong said, who’s looking to go all the way this time after falling short against eventual champions Thailand despite beating them in the preliminaries in the 2007 edition.

“I don’t expect both of us to go all out (today) since win or lose, we’ll still be in the finals. What’s truly important is the championship game on Friday,” Ong said.

For his part, Thailand’s Chinese coach Xuan Min Zhao said: “We expect a good game against the Philippines, we’ll enjoy it.”

With a berth to the gold medal match virtually sealed, Ong had the luxury of shuffling her crew against Indonesia, which finished the elims with 1-3.

“We gave our starters like Cassy Tioseco who’s tired from the last game, their rest today (yesterday) while we use our second unit more to give them the confidence going to the last two games,” said Ong.

Diana Jose, daughter of former PBA player Bobby Jose, topscored for the Filipinas, who actually had to shake off a slow start before pulling away to a 29-15 lead in the second period.

Charvi Borja added 13 and Angeli Gloriani and Aurora Adriano had 11 apiece to backstop Jose. Melissa Jacob, heroine of RP’s win over Malaysia Tuesday, played only six minutes and suffered a minor sprain after a bad fall in the third.

Yulinda Wati led the way for Indonesia with 14 markers followed by Wulan Ayuningrum’s 10.

The scores

First Game

Thailand 83 – Panurushthanon 16, Doksaiyud 15, Jantakan 14, Suksomwong 13, Sangkhum 7, Chirdpetcharat 5, Kachaiyapoom 4, Banmoo 4, Saechua 3, Mathuros 2, Eiamsum-ang 0, Yothanon 0.

Singapore 47 – Tan J. 14, Koh 12, Ang 8, Lau 4, Tan E. 4, Sim 3, Sunarko 2, Tok 0, Lim 0, Chee 0, Gan 0, Tang 0.

Quarterscores: 32-21, 53-30, 66-37, 83-47

Second Game

Philippines 82 – Jose 15, Borja 13, Adriano 11, Gloriani 11, Arayi 10, Tolentino 8, Mercado 7, Tioseco 4, Grajales 3, Valencia 0, Jacob 0, Pineda 0.

Indonesia 46 – Wati 14, Ayuningrum 10, Marina 7, Dwi Maya 6, Adhipustasari 5, Debby 2, Ayu Radhani 2, Shiela 0, Clara 0, Felisia 0, Kanesia 0.

Quarterscores: 17-13, 33-26, 57-32, 82-46