Now, it’s down to four.
The semifinalists of the PSL President’s Cup will now start taking center stage as they try to move on the cusp of advancing to the championship round.
With rankings, placings and everything that had been accomplished from the get-go right until the second round of the playoffs now being thrown out of the window, title favorites Biñan, San Juan and dark horse teams Nueva Ecija and Quezon, are ready for battle.
The Tatak Gel of Biñan, carrying a homecourt advantage, will host a fellow team from the Southern Tagalog region, the Titans of Quezon, a squad that just pulled off two gut-wrenching victories over Caloocan to advance to the Final Four.
Biñan and Quezon take center stage Tuesday beginning 8 p.m. right after the other semis pair pitting San Juan and Nueva Ecija at 6 p.m. as the Alonte Sports Center braces for a jampacked crowd about to witness these two exciting series, both to be fought in a best-of-three showdown.
For the coaches, getting past the semis will be a struggle.
“I emphasized the desire to win and nakita ko talaga sa mga players na gusto nilang manalo,” said Quezon coach Eric Gonzales, who needed to will his team to victory in two tightly-fought games played in a combined 10 quarters.
“But we expect it to be much tougher come the semifinals as we have Biñan as our semifinals foe.”
His team fully rested as the Tatak Gel advanced to the Final Four trouble-free, multi-titled coach Boyet Fernandez is not about to take the Titans lightly.
“We know it’s going to be a big test for us. Whatever happened in the elimination round all the way to the quarterfinals, is all but history. We have a tough task facing Quezon,” said Fernandez, owner of championships in different levels — from the PBA (Sta. Lucia), NCAA (San Beda) and D-League (NLEX).
Returning head coach Don Dulay was welcomed by a stiff challenge in the quarterfinal round when the Capitals had to get past Davao Occidental, which dragged his team in a rubber match and now he’s bracing for a war facing a familiar foe in San Juan.
“We’re no strangers to one another. We’ve developed some sort of a rivalry in the past and now we’re moving on to a new chapter and I’m sure all of us are waiting for the episode to come,” said Dulay, who took over as coach from Jerson Cabiltes a few days before the start of the playoffs.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada, head coach of San Juan, was a curious observer of the Nueva Ecija-Davao Occidental series, but the few days of rest had somehow allowed his wards to refresh and get more opportunities to study their opponents ahead of the semis wars.
He’s likewise upbeat of his team’s chances of claiming a championship this time after falling short of their bid in another league.
‘We have a strong chance of winning the championship as compared to last year,” said Senator Estrada. “All of our players right now are all healthy and nagkakaroon na sila ng chemistry.”
