By Vivem Soriano
Eagle News Service
Thousands of basketball-crazy Pinoy fans are expected to witness the best and the brightest 3-on-3 ballers on the planet battle for supremacy as the 2018 FIBA 3×3 World Cup opens today at the massive Philippine Arena.
Forty teams from 37 different countries will join and compete in the event, which runs from today up to the Philippine Independence Day on June 12.
Serbia and Russia are expected to defend their men’s and women’s titles they won at the 2017 staging of the tournament in France.
Both teams together with host Philippines are automatically qualified for the event.
The host country Philippines will field an all-pro team in the men’s competition coming from the country’s premier professional league, the Philippine Basketball Association, composed of 2017 first overall pick Christian Standhardinger from the San Miguel Beermen, Globalport’s Stanley Pringle and TNT Katropa teammates Troy Rosario and Roger Pogoy.
Ronnie Magsanoc will be coaching the squad.
They will be in a tough Group C crowd of world number 3 Russia, number 6 Brazil, 11th-ranked Mongolia and number 14 Canada.
The Philippine women’s team will be composed of Afril Bernardino, Jack Danielle Animam, Gemma Miranda and Janine Pontejos and will battle Hungary, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands in Group D.
All games of the FIBA 3×3 World Cup will be played on the same court inside the Philippine Arena with 20 men’s and 20 women’s teams competing in the event.
Bigger venue
In addition, there will be three individual contests: a men’s slam dunk contest which is open to professional dunkers, women’s skills contest and a mixed shoot-out contest.
“I think we’ve been very successful holding it in the malls, 3,000, 4,000 people watching the games,” Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Al Panlilio said in January.
“We chose to move it to a bigger venue. I think we want to give an opportunity for more people to see the games.”
Officially the world’s largest indoor arena, the cavernous and ultra-modern Philippine Arena lies just north of the capital Manila in the town of Bocaue, Bulacan province and can seat up to 55,000 fans.
It is the centerpiece of the Ciudad de Victoria complex which also includes the Philippine Sports Stadium, the largest stadium in the country which can house up to 30,000 fans.
Set to make its debut as an official Olympic sport at the 2020 Tokyo Games, both FIBA and the SBP are confident that passion and interest for 3×3 basketball and the Filipinos’ unmatched love for the game will result in a record-breaking attendance for the event.
Three-on-three tournaments in the past were usually held in shopping malls, outdoor basketball courts and sports plazas, so the announcement that it will be held this time in such a large venue drew mixed reactions and surprise from the sports media.
But according to Chooks-to-Go president and primary Gilas Pilipinas benefactor Ronald Mascariñas, the aim is to actually shatter previous attendance records and let more fans watch the games.
Officials also intimated they want a quantum leap in the quality and standing of 3×3 basketball in the sports world, especially now that is an official Olympic sport.
“Kanina pinag-uusapan na, if we’re going to break the record in attendance. I think the question there is not if we’re going to break, but how many more times. Because FIBA should see how passionate the Filipinos are about basketball. That’s a given,” Mascariñas said in a press conference held to formally announce the event in January.
Attendance concerns addressed
FIBA Managing Director Alex Sanchez also addressed concerns of attendance due to the Philippine Arena being outside Metro Manila.
He said he is confident people will flock to see the games despite the location of the venue as evidenced by the record-breaking attendance of the recently concluded PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
Game 7 drew a mammoth and record-crowd of 54,083 fans last November 2017.
“Yes, it is true that it’s not in downtown Manila, but SBP and the Bocaue government are very much convinced that they will be able to fill it. I have lots of confidence in SBP’s management and if they believe they will fill it, I’m sure they will fill it.” Sanchez added.
Only the Netherlands, host Philippines and Russia will have teams in both the men’s and women’s competition while Canada, Ecuador, Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia and Nigeria will make their debuts at the event.
Poland vs Argentina will be the opening match in the Men’s division at 12:10 p.m., while France vs Argentina will be the first salvo in the women’s division at 11:30 a.m.
The participating teams are:
Men’s: Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia (2017 winners), Slovenia and Ukraine.
Women’s: Andorra, Argentina, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Russia (2017 winners), Spain, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United States and Venezuela.