Balanga Chooks-to-Go fly to Korea for the Philippines’ last push to boost its 3×3 rankings, as the Magiting Cup champions test their mettle in the Jeju Challenger this weekend.
Alvin Pasaol, Santi Santillan, Karl Dehesa, and Chris de Chavez will hoist the country’s flag as they do battle in Qualifying Draw A on Saturday.
“All throughout, we need to stick sa All-Filipino na. Kailangan natin ng points eh. Ready naman kami nila Santi, Karl, at Chris to step up,” said Pasaol, the second-ranked 3×3 player in the country.
Awaiting the Filipino squad in the preliminaries are Winnipeg AP of Canada at 10:40 a.m.; then world no. 6 Princeton of the United States at 11:20 a.m.
The top squad from the pool will be the one to progress to Pool C, where world no. 5 Piran and no. 14 Lausanne await in the main draw.
The Jeju Challenger serves as a qualifier for the 2019 Fiba 3×3 World Tour Jeddah Masters, although Balanga are already secured in the Saudi Arabia tilt.
“This is the final stretch. All the hard work and sacrifices we did all boils down to this and Jeddah. The goal is to win. It never changes,” said Dehesa.
The Philippines is trying to garner all of the points it can get before the October 31 cutoff, where the country needs to stay within the top 24 to qualify for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
