Philippines to host FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters events in Manila, Cebu

Two FIBA 3x3 events are set to be hosted by the country this year.

The organizers on Friday announced that Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 was given the hosting duties to stage the World Tour Masters, where two huge events will take place: the Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3x3 Manila Masters and the Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3x3 Cebu Masters.

The Manila Masters is slated from May 28 to 29 while the Cebu Masters will take place from October 1 and 2.

Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas said bringing in the world tour to the Philippines will help Filipinos get more exposure to the global sport.

"Since 2019, the goals of Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 is to expose the Filipino basketball player to world-class competition while bringing quality 3x3 basketball to the fans," said Mascariñas in a statement.

"Two years before the 2024 Paris Olympics, we need to garner FIBA 3x3 points to qualify for the tournament or the Olympic Qualifying Tournament."

"By hosting the top-level tournaments, we get maximum points while also giving our players more experience and mileage in international 3x3."

Besides Manila and Cebu, France, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Montreal, Chengdu, Jeddah, Hong Kong, and Macau will also have Masters tournaments.

The season will come to a close on December 9 to 10 in Abu Dhabi.

“I think we should be very grateful to Chooks-to-Go for insisting and continuing its effort to help 3×3 in the Philippines,” said  FIBA 3×3 managing director Alex Sanchez.

“We always thought and believed that the Philippines is a great opportunity and market for 3×3. Therefore, we can only be grateful for this continuous effort in these difficult times.”

—JMB, GMA News