Chooks-to-Go will be bringing the best 3×3 basketball in the world to the country when it hosts the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Manila Masters on May 28-29 at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay.
Here are some important things you need to know.
The Highest Level 3×3 Competition
The FIBA 3×3 World Tour is a Level 10 event, the highest and most prestigious of the “open” network of FIBA-endorsed events. It is even higher than the FIBA 3×3 World Cup which is a Level 9 event.
The only other event in the Philippines over the past two years that comes close to the World Tour is the Chooks-to-Go Asia Pacific Super Quest which was staged last April 30 at the Ayala Malls Solenad. The Super Quest is a FIBA Level 8 event.
The 2nd Stop of the 2022 FIBA 3×3 World Tour
Photo from FIBA.basketball
2022 is the 11th edition of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour. It opened with its first leg last May 14-15 in Utsunomiya, Japan.
There are a record 13 events scheduled for the World Tour in 2022. Chooks-to-Go will be hosting two of these legs – the Manila Masters this month and the Cebu Masters on October 1-2.
The other events will bring 3×3 action to different major cities as the World Tour makes stops in Paris, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Montreal Chengdu Jeddah, Hongkong, Macau, and the World Tour finals in Abu Dhabi calendared on December 9-10.
14 Participants Aim to Be Called Kings of Manila
There will be 14 teams joining the Manila Masters. These teams come from nine different countries.
Three countries from Europe will be represented in the competition. Leading the charge is the top world-ranked country in 3×3 basketball, Serbia. World number four Belgium will also be present along with world number 14 Poland.
Asia will be well represented with host and world number 27 Philippines, world number eight Mongolia, world number 16 Japan, and world number 28 India.
Oceania countries Australia and New Zealand will also be sending entries which will make the Manila Masters a truly global event.
Best of the Best
The best teams and the best 3×3 players in the world will be converging in Manila for the World Tour.
The top three professional teams in the FIBA rankings – number one UB of Serbia, number two Antwerp of Belgium, and number three Liman of Serbia – will be the favorites in the 2-day event.
UB will be bannered by the top two players in 3×3 individual world rankings, 6-foot-7 Strahinja Stojacic and 6-foot-6 Dejan Mastorovic.
Antwerp will be featuring 6-foot-5 world number three Thibaut Vervoort and 6-foot-5 world number five Nick Celis.
Liman will have three members of the Serbian 3×3 national team which won the bronze in the Tokyo Olympics – 6-foot-8 Stefan Kojic, 6-foot-7 Mihailo Vasic, and 6-foot-4 Aleksander Ratkov.
Cebu Chooks, Manila Chooks Look To Defend Home Turf
Two Philippine teams will be looking to defend the country’s home floor and give Filipino fans something to cheer for.
Cebu Chooks and Manila Chooks have been training intensively under Coach Aldin Ayo these recent months in preparation for the Manila Masters.
Chooks-to-Go has spared no expense in molding the two teams into tip-top share as they go up against elite competition in the Manila Masters.
Cebu Chooks created a splash in the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Dubai Expo Super Quest in the UAE where they team defeated Chicago of the United States, 21-15, and came close to beating world number four and Olympic gold medalist Riga of Latvia, 17-21.
Cebu Chooks also emerged champion of the Asia Pacific Super Quest held last April where the Manila Chooks made the semifinals.
Both teams joined the Ulaanbaatar Super Quest in Mongolia on May 6-7. It was Manila Chooks’s turn to shine as it barged into the semifinals of the competition. Cebu Chooks made it to the quarterfinals.
Cebu Chooks and Manila Chooks have been practicing with UB and Liman since last week as the Philippine and Serbian teams get ready to bring their A-game to the Manila Masters.
The Air Up There
Air David Carlos will be looking for redemption as he seeks to bounce back from the upset he suffered at the hands of teen sensation Aldous Torcula in the 2022 Chooks-to-Go Asia Pacific Super Quest’s Sudan Daniel Slam Dunk Competition.
Carlos, however, will have his hands full as he faces high-caliber foreign slam dunk artists in the Manila Masters Chooks-to-Go Slam Dunk competition.
Kyuho “Styler” Lee of South Korea and Brodie Stephens of Australia will be looking to light up the Manila skyline with their aerial acrobatics.
Lee recently won the inaugural City Slam Dunk organized by the Melbourne City North Business Association. Stephens was named champion of the slam dunk competition of the 2019 FIBA 3×3 World Tour in Chengdu, China. He also placed 2nd in the 2018 FIBA 3×3 Utsunomiya World Tour and the 3rd in the 2018 FIBA 3×3 Chengdu World Tour.
