Manila Chooks TM 3×3 squad composed of Mark Yee (from left), Mac Tallo, Chico Lañete, head coach Aldin Ayo, Zach Huang, and Dennis Santos. | Photo from Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas
CEBU CITY, Philippines — After months of inactivity, one of the country’s ace 3×3 basketball squad, the Manila Chooks TM Pilipinas 3×3, will return into action in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Montreal Masters from September 4 to 5, 2021.
The last time the team competed for a major tournament was in March, during the Doha Masters in Doha, Qatar. The team was eliminated early in the tournament with a 1-1 (win-loss) record.
However, they will start a fresh campaign in Montreal, Canada as the 11th seed among 12 competing teams in the tournament.
“The team is hungry to redeem themselves,” said Chooks-to-Go President Ronald Mascariñas. “They have been ready since May, but unfortunately their Croatian visas did not make it in time for the FIBA 3×3 Lipik Challenger.
“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 said.
Cebuano cagers Zach Huang and Mac Tallo comprise the team along with Dennis Santos and newly added Mark Yee.
Veteran Chico Lañete will serve as the team’s alternate player.
Due to the heightened quarantine in Luzon, head trainer Aldin Ayo has been limited to training the team online for the past month.
“With regards to conditioning, there will be no problem as we made sure that the players figured in high-intensity workouts,” said the decorated tactician. “The chemistry will also be there since the team has been together for three months already.
“But the tournament itself is a different beast. With the limitations that we have, we studied a lot of films on our possible opponents, and we are hoping that the preparations translate to winning games,” he said.
The major tournament has US$110,000 in its prize pool — including US$40,000 for the champion.
World No. 2 Riga of Latvia headlines 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.
Completing the field are USA’s Princeton, Switzerland’s Lausanne, Lithuania’s Raudondvaris, Canada’s Old Montreal, USA’s Omaha, and one more team that will qualify through a Quest event.
The pools will be determined during the technical meeting on September 3.
Manila Chooks TM will have their RT-PCR tests on Tuesday and will leave the country the following day.
“We are hoping for a good result in Montreal as this tournament will be the starting point for our domestic season,” said Mascariñas.
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