THREE Philippine clubs will have their hands full in the inaugural leg of the Asia Tour 3×3 starting Sunday at the Mall of Asia Music Hall.
Kaye Pingol banners Uratex Dream with teammates Sam Harada, Eunique Chan and Shanda Anies; Uratex Tibay will have Blanche Bahuyan, Ford Grajales, Ma. Cecilia Junsay and Julia Barroquillo; while Discovery Perlas brings in Allana Lim, Raiza Palmera-Dy, Hazelle Yam and Sai Larosa.
Defending home turf, however, will be a tall order as three local teams are also in the mix in the eight-team women’s division of the brand new international 3×3 competition tipping off at 11 a.m.
Vietnam Red & Gold, which took home the silver medal in the last Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, is bringing in a formidable squad with twins Truong Thao My and Truong Thao Vy and Huynh Thi Ngoan joined by newcomer Nguyen Thi Tieu Duy.
Singapore Lioness will then parade Dania Nah, Sara Choong, Lydia Ang and Kang Yi Tan, while Harimau Malaysia A got Suet Ying Foo, Yin Jie Tan, Ke Hui Toh and Sin Jie Tan.
Completing the cast are Harimau Malaysia B which has Sammi Tan, Pei Jie Tan, Venn Ji Chan and Chah Yee Wong; and Thailand club Sniper which has Supavadee Kunchuan, Khwanjira Thongdaeng, Piyanuch Sriprem and Warangkhana Sirisathaphornsap.
Sister teams Uratex Dream and Uratex Tibay were drawn in Pool A together with Harimau A and Vietnam Red & Gold, while Pool B has Discovery Perlas, Harimau B, Sniper and Singapore Lioness.
Only the top two teams will advance to the crossover semifinals with the winners facing off in the championship game.
The champion will take home the $5,000 cash prize while the runner-up will bag $2,500 in the Fiba Lite Quest level five event.