Chooks World Tour provides dose of reality in Doha

Balanga Chooks

The FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters in Doha showed how good the Philippines is and at the same time, how much they need to work on, as both Pasig Chooks and Balanga Chooks were sent to the sidelines in the quarterfinals.

Liman and Riga showed why they were two of the three best teams in the FIBA 3x3 club scene, defeating their respective Filipino opposition.

Top-ranked Liman avenged their 19-16 loss to Pasig in pool play by beating Balanga, 21-9, while third-ranked Riga Ghetto avenged their 19-17 loss to Balanga in pool play by beating Pasig, 21-15.

Both teams went on to face off in the finals after dispatching their respective semifinal opposition: Liman ended Novi Sad's World Tour winning streak at 35 with a 20-17 victory, while Riga dispatched Piran, 21-14.

The Latvian quartet then finally secured their first-ever World Tour title with a hard-fought 15-14 battle.

As for the side events, Stefan Kojic topped the shootout, while in the dunk contest, Vadim Poddubchenko, better known in basketball circles as Miller, beat out David Carlos in the final.

The 5'9" Pinoy dunker's three dunks, which included a scorpion dunk over Alvin Pasaol, yielded a total score of 85, compared to the flawless performance of 90 from the Ukranian sensation.

Carlos did get $500 for his efforts.

Pasig's performance in both days netted them a fifth place finish, which nets the quartet of Joshua Munzon, Taylor Statham, Nikola Pavlovic, and Angelo Tsagarakis $5,000. Balanga's quartet of Pasaol, Leonard Santillan, Karl Dehesa, and Travis Franklin was not far behind in the final rankings with their sixth place result.

Reflecting on how both Pasig and Balanga fared in the Qatari capital, Chooks Pilipinas 3x3 commissioner Eric Altamirano expressed pride, noting that "We made a statement that we belong here in the World Tour."

He adds, "Seeing the level of play here and knowing that we can keep up with the world's best, it will definitely make our players hungrier to get back in the next legs of the World Tour."

Seeing how the teams fared, Chooks Pilipinas 3x3 owner Ronald Mascarinas vows that there will be more to come for 3x3 basketball in the Philippines, reaffirming his vow during the send-off to participate in whatever 3x3 tourney FIBA invites them to.

He declares, "Now that we are back in the game, we will join every 3x3 tournament FIBA wants us to join. This is just the start for us. We will continue to raise the level of our league, hoping that one day we can be seen by the world as one of the elite 3x3 basketball countries."

Pasig has some unfinished work to do, as they are headed to the Huaqiao International Kunshan Challenger on May 18-19. The Kunshan Challenger is a qualifier to the Chengdu Masters, which takes place on June 1-2 and is the second leg of the World Tour Masters.

June 1-2 also is slated for the start of the Patriots' Cup, which is the second conference of the Chooks Pilipinas 3x3. The SM Seaside Events Center in Cebu is slated to host the league opener.