By JONAS TERRADO
Two Chooks teams representing Cebu and Manila look to hurdle a stern test against tough opposition in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Manila Masters which starts Saturday (May 28) at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Paranaque City.
Winner of last month’s Asia Pacific Super Quest held on home soil, Cebu will face fancied Serbian side Ub at 3 p.m. and Mongolian squad Zavkhan at 7 p.m. in Pool A.
Manila, on the other hand, will be up against two familiar foes from Mongolia in Ulaanbataar at 4:25 p.m. and Zaisan at 8:25 p.m. in Pool B.
Cebu is fielding the same roster that won the Asia Pacific Super Quest in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and the recent Ulaanbataar Super Quest led by Mac Tallo, the country’s top 3×3 player.
Also part of the Cebu squad are Mike Harry Nzeusseu, Zach Huang and Brandon Ramirez.
Chico Lanete, Dennis Santos and Henry Iloka make up the Manila team that added Ken Holmqvist, who was selected in the first round by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in last season’s PBA Rookie Draft only to appear in just two games.
The top four teams in each pool will advance to the quarterfinals where they’ll contest the top prize of $40,000 (P2.09 million).
Also competing are Belgium’s Antwerp, Mongolia’s Sanzar and the winner of the qualifying stage composed of Japan’s Yokohama, New Zealand’s Auckland and Australia’s Melbourne.
In Pool C are Serbia’s Liman, Poland’s Warshaw and India’s Gurugram.
