 |
| Mikka Cacho, Monique del Carmen, Manila Hustle 3x3 tournament director Peachy Medina, Camille Clarin, and Tin Cayabyab. |
Manila Hustle 3x3 is set to commence this weekend, starting off with Pool Play on Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.
One of the highlights of Day 1 sees last year's finalists grouped together in Pool C, as Gilas Pilipinas Women and Army Altama square off at 330pm to kickstart their respective stints.
As the Lady Macbeth Riots, they claimed the inaugural title behind the shoulders of eventual Most Valuable Player Kacey dela Rosa, 21-11.
This time around, Gilas Women will be fielding a brand new quartet, but chemistry will not be a problem with an all-National University crew of Mikka Cacho, Camille Clarin, Monique del Carmen, and Tin Cayabyab, as they build up a potential pool for future competitions.
Clarin shared during the pre-tournament press conference, "We're looking to build a good foundation based on players coming into the program and preparing for long-term tournaments."
Army still has Camille Sambile and Mar Prado backstopping their quartet, with Zoos Tokyo and Thai side Shoot It Dragons completing Pool C.
The lone returning player from the Riots has moved to another team, as Trina Guytingco leads Titans in Pool D. The Ateneo alumna is joined by fellow Blue Eagle Jhazmin Joson and a couple of foreign recruits in Supavadee "Bo" Kunchuan and Lina Nakazawa. Alongside them is the Kaye Pingol-led Uratex Dream, which has tapped Renzhu Li of China to help boost their campaign, last year's semifinalists Dinoman Hansol of Korea, and newcomers Royals Basketball from Australia.
Discovery Perlas banners Pool B, with a couple of former UAAP MVPs in Allana Lim and Grace Irebu serving as anchors. They are grouped alongside three debuting teams in Unicle from Korea, Owls.EXE from Japan, and Shiv Nadar School from India.
Kickstarting the action at 1030am is a couple of Pool A teams, with Tokyo Dime going up against Bluefire, which features La Salle women's basketball alumnae in Snow Penaranda and Ameng Torres. The other teams in Pool A are Jumpshot from Singapore and the second Uratex entrant in Tibay, which has enlisted Gilas Women standout Afril Bernardino and Spanish baller Ari Geli, who played for Zoos last year.
Opening Ceremonies for the two-day competition will take place at 10am, with all pool play matches slated at the venue on Saturday and the knockout rounds on Sunday.
The top team in each pool will advance straight to the quarterfinals, with the teams in second and third place will have to go through a last sixteen crossover knockout playoff to complete the field.
The champion gets $3,000 with the losing finalist snapping up $2,000 and the third place team $1,000.
Serving as partners for the Manila Hustle 3x3 presented by Uratex and SMART are the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (technical), SMART Sports and Puso Pilipinas (media), Seiko Prospex (timekeeper), and B'lue (hydration), with Titan, Wilson, Green Cross, Secret Fresh, BDO, Laurin CocoMCT, Peloton Workforce, Senka, Pinesbel Manufacturing, Tsubaki, IFern, Evercool Radiator, Home Suite Furniture, and Quality Corrugated Box Manufacturing, and Aquaflask as sponsors.
Fans will be able to watch the proceedings through the SMART Livestream app, as well as on the Facebook pages of Puso Pilipinas.
No comments:
Post a Comment