PBA stars banner Phl bid in Fiba 3x3

MANILA, Philippines - Five Philippine teams, two of them powered by PBA stars, and seven foreign squads gun for slots to the Tokyo World Championship when Smart presents the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Manila-Masters this weekend at the Mega Fashion Hall of SM Megamall.

Action starts at 1 p.m. tomorrow after the 12 noon celebrity fun games featuring V-League standouts and entertainment personalities, while Sunday games kick off at 2 p.m. in the tournament organized by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas led by president Manny V. Pangilinan with Nike and Samsung as founding partners.

Representing the Philippines are Manila North’s Ian Sangalang of San Mig Super Coffee, Calvin Abueva and Vic Manuel of Alaska and Jake Pascual of NLEX; Manila East’s Ousseynou Karbala Gueye, Darryl Henderson Jr., John Adrian Wong and Jerie Marlon Pingoy all of Ateneo; Manila West’s Terrence Romeo of Globalport, Rey Guevarra of Meralco, KC Canaleta of Talk ‘N Text and Aldrech Ramos of Air21; Manila South’s Joshua Irvin Ayo, Adonis Christian Nismal, Karl Kenneth Estrada and Raphael Jude De Vera of the national champion Naga City Titans; and Manila Central’s Gabriel Banal, Jett Manuel, Nico Salva and Frank Golla.

“In behalf of SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan, we in SBP invite everyone to watch world class 3x3 basketball this Saturday and Sunday,” said SBP executive director Sonny Barrios. “Let us again show our foreign visitors warm Filipino hospitality and prove to them that basketball is more fun in the Philippines.”

Though 3x3 competitions require no official coaches, mentors Eric Altamirano, who handled the national team in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, and John Flores of the 2013 FIBA Asia champion 3x3 squad led by Kobe Paras, will be in charge with preparing and training the five Phl teams.

Foreign challenge will come from Jakarta, Doha, Yogkarta, Surabaya, Kobe, Xinzhuang and Auckland in the tournament where the top two teams earn passage to the 3x3 FIBA World Tour Final in Tokyo on Oct. 11-12.

Bracketed in Pool A are: Jakarta, Manila Central and Manila South; Pool B: Doha, Kobe, Manila West; Pool C: Auckland, Xinzhuang and Manila North; and Pool D: Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Manila East.

The format calls for a one-round elimination per group. The top two teams move to the eight-team knockout quarterfinals with the emerging four advancing to the crossover semis. The winners dispute the title, with the champion getting $10,000 and the runner-up $5,000.

Day One action has Jakarta facing Manila Central at 2:10 p.m, Doha vs Kobe at 2:30 p.m., Auckland  vs Xinzhuang at 2:50 p.m., Yogkarta vs Surabaya at 3:30 p.m., Manila Central vs Manila South at 3:40 p.m., Kobe vs Manila West at 4:10 p.m., Xinzhuang vs Manila North at 4:30, Surabaya vs Manila East at 4:50 p.m., Manila South vs Jakarta at 5:20 p.m., Manila West vs Doha at 5:40 p.m., Manila North vs Auckland at 6:20 p.m., and Manila East vs Yogjakarta at 6:40 p.m.