Uratex earns runner-up finish at Red Bull Half Court tourney

c/o Uratex Dream

URATEX Dream defied the odds and reached the Red Bull Half Court World Final before falling to Tokyo Verdy of Japan, 11-8, in the championship at Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York early Monday (Manila time).

The quartet of Kaye Pingol, Afril Bernardino, Sam Harada, and Eunique Chan turned heads in the Big Apple as they cut their opposition down to size to make the spirited run to the final two of the women’s division.

“Super proud ako sa pinakita nila. The only thing that matters is seeing my teammates’ effort and sacrifice their bodies in the game, that’s already a win for me,” said Bernardino of the Dream’s runner-up finish in the 10-team field.

It was a valiant performance for the Philippine club which reasserted its position as the best women’s 3x3 team in the country.

Uratex finished second in pool play with its 3-1 win-loss slate, including thrilling victories against Not Fast but Furious (Australia), 9-8, and Team SLAM (United States) in overtime, 12-10. The Dream suffered a tight 15-13 loss to Evolve (Kuwait), but bounced back with a 14-9 conquest of Amigos (Egypt).

The Filipinos also hurdled the taller Prykarpattya squad of Ukraine, 9-7, in the quarterfinals, before continuing their dream run with a slim 6-5 triumph over Belgium’s On Fire in the semis to book their spot in the finals.

“We’re very happy with this achievement. It’s a testament to the success of the partnership between our program and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP),” said team owner Peachy Medina. “Malaking bagay na reinvigorated yung programs para sa women’s basketball and it gave us plenty of exposure on the international stage. It’s really the ultimate collaboration.”

This also eclipsed Uratex’s performance last year in Belgrade, Serbia where the dream made it to the quarterfinals behind Pingol, Harada, Mikka Cacho and Blanche Bahuyan.

Uratex Dream will now shift their focus in preparing for the Manila Hustle 3x3 Season 3 set on February 8 and 9 next year.

Meanwhile, Half Court Group, made up of Matt Salem, Chester Saldua, Gryann Mendoza, and Jordan Bartlett, missed out on reaching the playoff in the men’s division.