The best of 3×3 basketball teams across the continent are coming to Manila and battle for glory as the inaugural Asia Tour 3×3 unfolds from 22 to 23 April at the Mall of Asia Music Hall in Pasay City.
A total of 20 teams — 12 in men’s and 8 in women’s — including several national squads and top professional 3×3 ball clubs from six different countries are going to strut their wares in the two-day event offering $25,000 in prizes.
“3×3 basketball is fast becoming one of the popular sports these days and it is just the right thing to start the Asia Tour 3×3 to a country whose love for the sport is almost unparalleled,” Asia Tour 3×3 founder Connor Nguyen of Vietnam said.
Bannering the hometown bets in the men’s division are Philippine Basketball Association campaigners TNT Tropang Giga and Cavitex.
The three other teams who are out to impress are the Zamboanga Valientes, Happy Hotel and Demigod.
Rising Star, Harimau A and Harimau B fly the colors of Malaysia while The Performance Lab from Vietnam, SG Lion from Singapore and 3BL from India represent the pride of their countries in the highly-anticipated event.
Formidable squads in the women’s division are also taking the spotlight led by Philippine teams Uratex Tibay, Uratex Dreams, and Discovery Pelas along with Malaysia’s Harimau A and B, Singapore’s SG Lioness, Thailand’s Sniper and Vietnam’s VN Red and Gold.
The men’s competition will be divided into four groups consisting of three teams which they play in a single-round robin format in the pool phase.
The top teams from each group get an outright ticket to the quarterfinals while the second and third-place teams figure in a crossover play-in matchup to determine which last four teams will advance to the playoffs.
The women’s side, on the other hand, will have two groups during the pool phase composed of the four teams which will figure in the qualification games in a single round-robin format.
The top two teams at the end of the qualifying round advance to the crossover semifinals in the knockout round.
The event has also SM as the venue partner, SMART as the broadcast partner and Wilson as the official ball. Also backing the event are Heritage Hotel, Fiber Kinetics (3×3 flooring) and Gatorade.