Philippine 3x3 team vies in Jakarta Challenge

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will start its preparation for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament for 3x3 basketball as it competes against Asian national teams in the Jakarta 3x3 International Invitational Challenge 2019 today in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Joshua Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, Santi Santillan and Troy Rike, who are all part of the national pool, will comprise the team battling squads from host Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and Malaysia with Eric Altamirano as their coach.

“This will be a good first look on one of the combinations we can use for the OQT,” said Altamirano, who is also the Chooks-to-Go 3x3 League commissioner and program director. “More importantly, we joined this short tournament to keep our players sharp before we head into full throttle with our preparation this January.”

Munzon and Pasaol are already assured of spots in the squad seeing action in the OQT in March next year in New Delhi, India being the two highest ranked 3x3 players in the country today with the other two slots to be selected from the pool.

Altamirano had earlier brought up the possibility of tapping a player or two from the Philippine Basketball Association to reinforce the squad seeking a top three finish in the OQT to book a berth in next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

The one-day tourney will employ a single-round-robin format with the top two battling it out for the title.