WE won twice; we lost twice. Our Philippine 3-on-3 team fell to host France and to the No.2 seed Slovenia but triumphed over Romania and El Salvador. Respectable result. There was little chance Jeron Teng, Kobe Paras, J.R. Quiñahan and Kiefer Ravena could have beaten the French and Slovenians. Sadly for us, only the two top advance to the quarterfinals.
If you haven’t gotten the chance to watch 3x3 basketball, watch it. Unlike the traditional full-court five-on-five, this new Olympic sport (to be introduced in Tokyo 2020) is quick, nonstop, rugged, intense. We can all relate to it because we’ve played these half-court games.
And while our basketball-crazy nation might never get the 3x3 Olympic gold or win the World Championship trophy, we are looking forward to a major prize: Manila gets to host the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in May 2018.
Manny Pangilinan, who has done more for Philippine sports than any Peping or politician, is to be lauded for this. MVP is the MVP, our most valuable patron.
Next year’s WC hosting is remarkable. This event, although played in our backyards and school gyms for decades, is new. The FIBA 3x3 World Cup only started in 2012. Then, it was hosted by Athens, Greece. The following year, it was Moscow. Last year, Guangzhou hosted and it’s in Nantes, France as I write this. In 2019, Amsterdam has been awarded the rights. But next year, it’s our beloved Philippines that will be the center of basketball attention.
With 3-on-3, what makes it different? Here are some rules:
Three play oncourt (obviously) with one substitute. A shot inside the arc is one point while the usual three-pointer is scored two points. The game lasts for 10 minutes but whoever scores 21 points first wins. There’s a 12-second shot clock. The basketball (ball itself) is slightly smaller than the standard ball. Each team is allowed only one timeout.
Watch the 3x3 action in YouTube.
JOY TABAL. Cebuanos and running aficionados are relieved that our country’s top marathoner is included in the Southeast Asian Games roster for the Kuala Lumpur event in August.
With her training schedule, I asked Jonel Borromeo, who has supported Joy in her training and international competition, for updates. Here’s Jonel:
“Joy Tabal has been training in Tuscany, Italy for the last 2 months and will be there for another 2 months with the last 3 weeks focused on high altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland. If I’m not mistaken, it’s 2500 meters elevation and super dry air. According to her, the current training is quite different from that of Japan.
“In Japan, programs were focused on her ability to push her limits to her full capacity. In Italy, she is pegged with runners who run much faster than her; the result of that is she realizes she can actually do more. She understands her potential.”
With her training staff, they’re a complete group. “Her support team consists of a head coach, strengthening coach, nutritionist, physiotherapist, psychologist and a doctor who specializes in high level athletes. All are present from start to finish of training.. yes, impressive,” said Jonel Borromeo.
One more person to acknowledge for Joy’s success: her coach Philip Dueñas.