Manila Chooks TM 3×3 squad leaves for Montreal Masters
The Manila Chooks TM 3×3 squad is composed of from left: Chico Lañete, Mark Yee, Mac Tallo, Zach Huang, and Dennis Santos. | Photo from Chooks to Go Pilipinas
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Manila Chooks TM 3×3 squad on Wednesday, September 1, left the country for Montreal, Canada for the 2021 FIBA 3×3 Montreal Masters that starts on September 4 (September 5, Manila Time).
The five-man roster of the Manila Chooks TM 3×3 squad composed of Cebuanos Mac Tallo and Zach Huang along with veterans Mark Yee and Chico Lañete, and Dennis Santos all tested negative of the COVID-19 after taking their mandatory RT-PCR tests. They are joined by their head coach Aldin Ayo.
The team left Manila at 2:40 PM on Wednesday and will arrive in Tokyo, Japan at 8:00 PM. After a two-hour layover, the team will depart for Vancouver at 9:55 PM.
The flight from Tokyo to Vancouver will take eight hours and 55 minutes so the team is expected to arrive there at 4:50 PM on Thursday, then take another plane for Montreal.
Once the team arrives in Montreal, another round of COVID-19 testing will be conducted. The squad will be isolated at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.
Once cleared, the Pinoys will be allowed to train at the half-court of Montreal.
Mark Yee can’t hide his excitement in his international pro circuit FIBA 3×3 debut.
The 39-year old Yee, the former Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball Association (MPBL) champion of the Davao Occidental Tigers said that opportunities like this rarely happen at his age.
“Sobrang blessed. Hindi naman natin maitatago na may edad na tayo para maimbitahan tayo sa ganito kalaking tournament,” expressed Yee.
“Talagang, kumbaga, lagi ko lang iniisip na sobrang blessed talaga. Sa pagkakataon na ito, hindi ko naisip na mare-represent ko pa ‘yung bansa natin sa FIBA sa tanda ko na ito.”
The team is hoping to earn crucial points in a bid to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The PH team is grouped with world No.8 Antwerp of Belgium and Canada’s Edmonton which is ranked No. 10 in Group D.
They will open their campaign against Antwerp at 12:45 AM (Manila Time) and Edmonton at 6:50 AM on the same day.
Antwerp will be manned by 6-foot-5 Nick Celes (World No. 23), Thibaut Vervoort (No. 28), 6-foot-6 Thierry Marien (No. 43), and 6-foot-6 Rafael Bogaerts (No. 72).
The last time a Filipino team faced Antwerp was in the 2019 FIBA 3×3 Moscow Challenger where the Pasig Chooks 3×3 team lost, 14-21.
On the other hand, Edmonton will be led by World No. 32 Steve Sir along with Alex Johnson, Dutch import Ross Bekkering, and the debuting Adika Peter-McNeilly.
The top two teams in Pool D will advance to the crossover playoffs on September 6 and will face either World No. 4 Ub of Serbia, Switzerland’s Lausanne, or home team Old Montreal.
“Gustong-gusto naming bumawi kasi nabitin kami noong Doha Masters,” said Lanete. “Every win and every point counts for us para makakuha tayo ng points para sa Olympics.” /rcg
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