MANILA Chooks TM will be competing at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 3×3 World Tour Montreal Masters happening from Sept. 4-5.
The tournament is the second that the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 team will see action in this year after the Doha Masters in March.
For the Montreal event, the Manila squad — composed this time around of Mac Tallo, Zach Huang, Dennis Santos, and newcomer Mark Yee, and reserve Chico Lanete — is seeded 11th in a field of 12 teams, but it remains upbeat of its chances and doing well.
“The team is hungry to redeem itself,” said Chooks-to-Go President Ronald Mascariñas in a statement, of the squad handled by decorated collegiate coach Aldin Ayo.
“There have been a lot of challenges faced by the team brought about by the current pandemic, but we are confident that frequent participation in the FIBA 3×3 pro circuit will only make the team stronger,” he added.
Mr. Ayo, for his part, said the team has been working together for three months now and “the chemistry should also be there.”
The FIBA 3×3 World Tour Montreal Masters offers a $110,000 prize pool, $40,000 going to the champion.
World number two Riga of Latvia leads the field along with no. 4 Ub of Serbia, no. 7 Amsterdam of the Netherlands, no. 8 Antwerp of Belgium, and no. 10 Edmonton of Canada.
Others competing are Princeton of the United States, Switzerland’s Lausanne, Lithuania’s Raudondvaris, Canada’s Old Montreal, US’ Omaha, and one more team that will qualify through a Quest event.
The pools will be determined during the technical meeting on Sept. 3.
Manila Chooks TM is set to undergo RT-PCR testing on Tuesday and will leave the country the following day. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
