The players of Saitama celebrate during the awarding ceremony of the 2022 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 International Quest last September 16, 2022. | Photo from Chooks-to-Go
CEBU CITY, Philippines— The Serbian-backed Saitama of Japan won its first major 3×3 title after dominating the 2022 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 International Quest on Friday evening, September 16, at the Ayala Malls Solenad in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
Saitama defeated Mongolia’s Zaisan MMC Energy, 20-13, to emerge as the overall champion of the pre-lude tournament of the Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3×3 World Tour Cebu Masters that will be held at the SM Seaside City Cebu on October 1 and 2.
The victory also earned Saitama a $10,000 purse and a ticket to the Cebu Masters along with runners-up Zaisan MMC Energy.
The newly formed team from Japan took advantage of its size and speed against their more spent foes, pulling away late on the way to ruling the one-day meet undefeated across five games.
“I said it back in 2019 and I’ll say it again, I really love the Philippines,” said Japan no. 6 player and Tokyo Olympian Tomoya Ochiai, who was part of the Tokyo Dime team that won the first-ever Chooks-to-Go Asia Pacific Super Quest back in 2019.
“New team, it really feels good that we were able to reach the Masters. It’s going to be exciting,” the 35-year-old 3×3 specialist added.
Saitama’s towering Serbian center Teodor Atanasov led the team with eight points, while young gun Ryo Ozawa provided six markers in the victory against Zaisan.
Ochiai and another Serbian, Marko Milakovic, chipped in two points apiece for Saitama, that led by as much as eight points with only 1:17 left to play after engaging in a nip-and-tuck affair early.
Ulzii-Orshikh Myagmarsuren led Zaisan with six points, while Ganbaatar Nyamdorj had five in the loss that saw them settle for $5,000.
The other qualified teams for the Cebu Masters are joining Utsunomiya, Sansar, Antwerp, Riga, Amsterdam, Jeddah, Lausanne, Omaha, Ludhiana, and Doha.
The Scores:
Final
Saitama 20 – Atanasov 11, Milakovic 4, Ozawa 3, Ochiai 2.
Zaisan 13 – Myagmarsuren 6, Nyamdorj 5, Chuluunbaatar 1, Batsaikhan 1.
Semis 2
Saitama 18 – Milakovic 8, Ozawa 6, Ochiai 2, Milakovic 2.
Ulaanbaatar 16 – Enkhbat 8, Davaasambuu 7, Gotov 1 Tsogt 0.
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