SANTO DOMINGO (FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018) - The FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018 is fast approaching, and the Dominican Republic hopes to repeat the good results achieved in previous editions of the tournament and the Centrobasket U17 2017.

In the FIBA U18 Championship of the Americas, which will take place June 10-16 in St. Catharines, Canada, the Dominicans will be part of Group A along with Panama, Puerto Rico, and USA. Group B will be composed of Chile, Ecuador, Argentina and the hosts Canada.

"USA has great superiority over the other teams and in this group, we hope to repeat the victories we achieved over Puerto Rico and Panama in the Centrobasket U17 2017, held in Santo Domingo. We can anticipate that the group will be very difficult, because of how the matches between the three teams developed. I think the possibilities within the group will depend on the changes made by the teams for the championship," said Victor Hansen, Head Coach of the Dominican Republic U18 National Team.

Regarding the current situation of the Dominican team, the coach said that the preparation of the team has already begun, but many of the players are in the United States concluding their academic commitments.

"At the beginning of April, we will have our second training camp, to begin to define the team for the championship. At the end of May, we will begin the final phase of our preparation and we will be practicing until the start of the competition," concluded Hansen.

In the FIBA U18 Americas Championship, the Dominicans will begin their participation against the United States on June 10, they will then face Puerto Rico on June 11 and they will conclude the Group Stage against Panama on June 12.

All teams will advance to the quarterfinals on June 14. The Semifinals will be played on June 15 and the Final on June 16.

The top-four teams of the continental championship will qualify to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019.

FIBA