The Philippines get another crack to be on the 3x3 stage, with the return of Manila Chooks TM onto the 3x3 pro circuit.
FIBA 3x3 has invited the squad to participate in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Montreal Masters, which takes place from September 4-5.
This is the second tournament they are participating after the Doha Masters back in March. They were supposed to be in the Lipik Challenger back in May, but they were unable to participate due to visa-related matters.
Chooks-to-Go President Ronald Mascariñas shares, "The team is hungry to redeem themselves. 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 3x3 pro circuit will only make the team stronger."
The squad is composed of Mac Tallo, Zach Huang, Dennis Santos, and Mark Yee, with Chico Lanete serving as an alternate. Aldin Ayo remains as the head trainer. Their RT-PCR tests are slated for Tuesday, with a planned departure date the next day.
Pandemic-related conditions have forced preparations to be restricted to online training. Ayo adds, "With regards to conditioning, there will be no problem as we made sure that the players figured in high-intensity workouts. 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."
Twelve teams are set to participate, led by 2nd-ranked Riga and 4th-ranked Ub. Three more top-ten sides also present in 7th-ranked Amsterdam, 8th-ranked Antwerp, and tenth-ranked Edmonton.
The other teams in the field are Princeton, Lausanne, Raudondyaris, Omaha, home side Old Montreal, and a yet-to-be-identified team who will be topping a Quest event.
$40,000 awaits the champion in this leg, with a total prize pool of $110,000.
Mascariñas adds, "We are hoping for a good result in Montreal as this tournament will be the starting point for our domestic season."
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