KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — It is going to be a tough going for the national Men's basketball squad against the Philippine team at the SEA Games in Singapore, as the latter has naturalised players.

Team manager, Datuk Lua Choon Hann said it would be a tough path to semi-final as they need to go head-on with Philippines and win against Indonesia.

“If we qualify for the semi-final, we will set a new strategy for the final.

We have some new players and hope the experienced players can guide them on the court,” he told reporters at Malaysia Basketball Association's (MABA) premises here, today.

He said both the Men and Women teams were physically and mentally aiming to achieve a top three position.

The Men's team is in Group A with the Philippines, Indonesia and Timor Leste while Group B comprises Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The Men's team captain, Kuek Tian Yuan said the team could contribute a medal for the Malaysian contigent saying.

“Most of the players are young players, first time playing at SEA Games, I hope we can get the rhythm and achieve our target.”

The National Men's team finished in fourth position at 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar. They had grabbed the gold medal in the 1989 SEA Games held in Kuala Lumpur.

The Women's team leader, Nur Izzati Yaakob is aiming for a tenth gold medal saying: “To me everything is good in term of skills, just need mental adjustment.”

The Women's team have hauled gold medals at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in 1977, 1979 (Indonesia), 1981 (Philippine), 1983 (Singapore), 1985 (Thailand), 1997 (Indonesia), 2001 (Kuala Lumpur), 2003 (Vietnam) and 2007 in Thailand. — Bernama