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CEBU, Philippines – Several of the world’s best 3×3 teams will display their wares here for a chance to reign supreme in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Cebu Masters 2023 from September 23 to 24 at SM Seaside City Cebu.
Serbia’s Ub Huishan, bannered by Olympian Dejan Majstorovic, leads several top 10 teams vying for the crown and the top prize of $40,000.
Netherlands’ Amsterdam, Austria’s Vienna, the United States’ Miami, and Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar also stand favored along with China, which will be reinforced by Dutch Olympian Dimeo van der Horst.
Defending home turf is Manila Chooks, led by Cebuano Mac Tallo, along with Marcus Hammonds, Marquez Letcher-Ellis, and Tosh Sesay.
Wuxi, another Chinese team; Sansar, also a second Mongolian squad; and Puerto Rico’s San Juan look to mix it up with the rest of the field.
Tallo, now the highest-ranked 3×3 player in the Philippines, is adamant on improving their listless finish last year, where they ended up winless.
“Hopefully, with God’s will, we’d be given a victory so that after the Cebu Masters, we can arrest our slump,” said Tallo during a media availability organized by Chooks-to-Go.
Manila Chooks will kick off its bid against Austria’s Vienna in Pool C at 4:20 pm Saturday, before taking on China’s Futian at 8:20 pm.
Meanwhile, Pampanga-based Lubao; Auckland, New Zealand; and Taichung, Chinese Taipei will duke it out in the qualifying draw to complete the 12-team face-off.
Aside from the cash prize for the champion, the tournament runner-up will also take home $30,000, the third-placer $22,000, and the fourth-placed team $16,000.
Former NBA lottery pick Jimmer Fredette, who played in the NBA for six seasons before heading overseas, relishes the experience of playing the official half-court variant of basketball.
“I’ve been playing for the last four, five months… it’s been great. We’ve been able to experience a lot of cool places all over the world,” said Fredette.
“It’s a lot of fun and it’s super exciting to be able to play here, and hopefully we’ll be able to further our season.”
Fredette, representing the US along with teammates Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox, and Dylan Travis, fell against Serbia in the gold-medal match of the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup held in the Austrian capital last June. – Rappler.com
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