Country's Finest 3x3 players eye redemption at Moscow Challenger

Pasig. Balanga. The Chooks World Tour heads to the Russian capital.

The best 3x3 ballers in the Philippines are eyeing redemption.

Fresh from disappointing results in the men's draw of 3x3 basketball, whether club or country, the Philippines is looking to rebound and redeem themselves in the global scene at the Tinkoff Moscow Open, which starts Friday night (Manila time).

Chooks Pilipinas 3x3 is sending two teams to the Russain capital, managing to successfully lobby Balanga into the field after Pasig having secured a formal invitation to participate.

League owner Ronald Mascarinas shares, "We need to rack up more points as we recently fell to 32 in the men's rankings. That is why we are sending two teams to Russia."

The drop came after the results of the Kunshan Challenger for Pasig Chooks and the Gilas Pilipinas squad in the 3x3 Asia Cup, where both squads were bounced out of Pool play.

The BAVI head honcho adds, "I think that was the worst tournament we participated in. We left Kunshan with no wins. That's behind us now and the most important thing is that we learned a lot. This time around, we need to start winning because we are running out of time in the race to the OQT.

Only teams ranked in the top 24 will be granted a slot at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and with the November deadline looming in the horizon, the urgency gets more massive.

Pasig is currently ranked as the 24th amongst club sides in FIBA 3x3, and as such, has secured an automatic Pool berth, specifically in Pool B alongside Riga Ghetto and Antwerp. 90th ranked Nikola Pavlovic rejoins the trio of 89th ranked Joshua Munzon, 91st ranked Taylor Statham, and Dylan Ababou as they bounce back from losing both of their matches in Kunshan.

Munzon's mission is very clear. "We want to make up for what happened in Kunshan," he says. Statham only had one word for their goal in Russia. "Redemption."

Pasig plays Antwerp first at 11pm before facing the Doha Masters champions at 1225am.

As for Balanga, they will need to survive Moscow Inanomo and Odessa in Qualifying A, with the top team there being assigned to Pool C with Gagarin and Gdansk Energa 3x3. They have tapped Chris de Chavez from Valenzuela in Chooks Pilipinas 3x3 play to complete their squad, joining Alvin Pasaol, Karl Dehesa, and Travis Franklin as they undertake their gauntlet of a schedule.

Moscow Inanomo is no stranger to Balanga, as their matchup at the Doha Masters was one of the best games in that tournament, with Pasaol nailing the TISSOT Buzzer-Beater for the 20-19 win in overtime.

Pasaol shares, "Sobrang excited ako na makalaban sila ulit. Hindi kami magpapatinag sa kanila kahit homecourt pa nila."

Before the 8:20pm rematch, Balanga will have to deal with Odessa Basket at 7:40pm. Survive those and they get Pool C matches against Gagarin at 955pm and Gdansk at 1120pm.

If both teams can navigate their respective schedules, they will continue on with action the next day.

The Moscow Challenger offers a couple of tickets into the Prague Masters leg of the 3x3 World Tour as one of the prizes, with a total pot money of $32,000 as well on the line.