CEBU — All 3×3 basketball roads lead to Cebu, the “Queen City” of the South, with the staging of the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Chooks-to-Go World Tour Cebu Masters on Oct. 1-2 at the SM Seaside City here.

This is the first time that Cebu City is hosting a FIBA-level tournament — the same place where its 3×3 program was conceived three years ago, with the aid of The Sisters of Mary School.

“We are bringing the biggest basketball event in Cebu — the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Cebu Masters 2022,” said Chooks-to-Go President Ronald Mascariñas during the event launch at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

Mascariñas said the ultimate goal is to put the Filipinos to 3×3 basketball in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“This is only one step in improving our chances of qualifying for the Olympics. Yun ang main objective natin. We want to bring Filipinos to play in the Paris Olympics sa larangan ng basketball,” explained Mascariñas.

He recalled that Chooks and the Sisters of Mary School Girlstown and Boystown broke a FIBA world record for most kids playing in a 3×3 game and the most number of simultaneous U18 games played with 1,656 girls and 1,380 boys taking part in the two-day event back in January of 2019.

“We are here today to pay homage to The Sisters of Mary School Girlstown and Boystown,” Mascariñas said as he was joined by Sisters of Mary Boystown’s Sr. Esterlita Capiña, SM and Girlstown’s Sr. Laresa Morasa, SM.

“Buong puso nila tayong tinanggap noong 2019, when we launched the 3×3 program of Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas.”

And since that record-breaking event held at the 25-court campus of The Sisters of Mary Boystown, Chooks always made sure to give back to the school and to the city as well by staging Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 events.

Cebu Chooks, bannered by the country’s top two 3×3 players –Mac Tallo and Zachary Huang — will take on Antwerp of Belgium at 3 p.m. and Omaha of USA at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

“Sobrang excited kaming maglaro. First time ko to play as a pro player dito sa Cebu,” said Tallo.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya