IT WILL be a day of hoop action on Wednesday, October 20, at the LausGroup Event Centre in the City of San Fernando as the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 Invitational Basketball Tournament reels off following a year of hiatus due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
Powered by TM, the one-day invitational tourney returns to the hardcourt -- after the league's run at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna in October last year -- with 12 teams expected to outclass each other at Central Luzon's biggest and safest events venue located at the LausGroup Complex along Jose Abad Santos Avenue, City of San Fernando.
Getting to the ball are HeiHei Manila, Pacquiao Coffee Bacolod, BRT Sumisip Basilan, Homegrown Grains Bocaue, Amacor Mandaluyong, RBR Cabiao Nueva Ecija, Pasig Kingpins, Adam Esli Pasay, MNL Kingpin Quezon City, Essen Immunoboost Sarangani, Zamboanga Valientes, and ARQ Builders Cebu.
The teams are allowed to tap foreign reinforcements in the Games and Amusements Board regulated and International Basketball Federation (FIBA)-endorsed tourney, which league owner Ronald Mascariñas said is instrumental for Philippine squads to compete and earn points in FIBA-sanctioned 3×3 tournaments.
The FIBA 3×3 World Tour format will be in effect with the teams pooled in groups of three. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout playoffs on the same day.
The champion team will take home P100,000. The second and third place finishers will receive P50,000 and P20,000, respectively.
To ensure the health and safety of all participants, the league held over the weekend a briefing for teams where the protocols that need to be observed and other particulars were mapped out. (JTD)