MANILA Chooks TM left for Canada on Wednesday to compete in the 2021 FIBA 3×3 Montreal Masters with Mark Yee expressing excitement as he makes his 3×3 debut.
“I feel so blessed and of course, I’m not as young as many players are, but I still got the invite for this major tournament,” the 39-year-old sweet-shooting bruiser said.
Joining Yee in the flight are Mac Tallo, Zachary Huang, Dennis Santos and alternate player Chico Lanete. They all tested negative for the coronavirus after undergoing RT-PCR tests.
From Manila, they will stay in Tokyo for a two-hour layover before flying to Vancouver where they will take another flight to Montreal.
They will again be tested for the virus in Montreal and will be quarantined at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. The team will be allowed to train at the half-court of Montreal once cleared.
Manila Chooks TM hopes to finish strong in Montreal in order to garner qualifying points for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The team is bracketed in Pool D along with World No. 8 Antwerp of Belgium and No. 10 Edmonton of Canada. The Filipinos play Antwerp on September 5 at 12:45 a.m. (Manila time) and Edmonton at 6:50 a.m. the same day.
Antwerp is composed of 6-foot-5 Nick Celes (World No. 23), Thibaut Vervoort (No. 28), 6-foot-6 Thierry Marien (No. 43) and 6-foot-6 Rafael Bogaerts (No. 72). Antwerp beat the Philippines, 21-14, the last time both teams played in the 2019 FIBA 3×3 Moscow Challenger.
Headlining Edmonton is World No. 32 Steve Sir. He will be joined by Alex Johnson, Dutch import Ross Bekkering, and the debuting Adika Peter-McNeilly.
The top two teams in Pool D will advance to the crossover playoffs on September 6 and will face either World No. 4 Ub of Serbia, Switzerland’s Lausanne or home team Old Montreal.