The Philippine lady cagers bagged their first major international basketball crown by ruling the seventh Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Women’s Championship held in the country last October.

And after proving themselves in the Southeast Asian region, Ong said it’s time to up the ante and they have set their sights on tougher tournaments next year.

Ong, herself a former national player, is thrilled with this new challenge and she is keeping the core intact with the possibility of adding a few more players, including a Chinese recruit.

“The core of the team will be back but of course the lineup will still be open for the final 12,” Ong told the BusinessMirror.

The team resumes practice on January 3.

“I have recruits pero by invitation na lang because I know it will be very hard to get players if they are still playing for their schools. We will have to wait until they are done with their commitment from their schools,” she added.

For next year, the Philippine cagers’ goal is to win the gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Other than the biennial meet, Ong said the Filipino dribblers will also compete in the Division Two of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba)-Asia Women’s Championship.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is also planning to send the women’s team to the annual William R. Jones Cup in Taiwan in July as part of the squad’s preparations for the SEA Games.

SBP executive director Noli Eala said the women’s team is one of the priorities of the federation next year and their goal is to make the squad an elite team in the Asian region and join the likes of Chinese Taipei, Japan and South Korea.

To improve its chances of winning the country’s first women’s caging gold in the biennial meet, the SBP is expediting the naturalization of six-foot-three Chinese Xiaojing Zheng to beef up the team.

“The team is excited for the tournaments next year. We hope we can make the country proud again,” said Ong.

Joel Orellana, Business Mirror