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FOR Joshua Munzon, the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3X3 will boost their morale and skills ahead of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in May next year in Graz, Austria.
Members of the 3 × 3 national team, like everyone else in the sports world, were out of the game for seven months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For now, I just want to focus on this first conference of the Chooks-to-Go 3 × 3 league. I think this league is the step in the right direction to prepare for the OQT and we could build momentum from here,” Munzon told BusinessMirror through a private message.
Munzon, a graduate of the state of California in Los Angeles in Division II of the US National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), is part of the 3X3 national team also comprised of Chooks-to-Go player Alvin Pasaol and the stars of the Philippine Basketball Association CJ Pérez from Terrafirma and Mo Tautuaa from San Miguel Beer.
Seven squads already entered the Inspire Sports Academy bubble in Calamba, Laguna, on Wednesday, including Munzon and Pasaol of Family’s Brand Sardines-Zamboanga City Chooks, for the inaugural season-opening President’s Cup tournament powered by TM.
Also within the so-called Calambubble were Uling Roasters-Butuan City, Bacolod Master Sardines, Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, Palayan City Capitals, Porac-Big Boss Cement Green Gorillas and Pasig-Sta. Lucia Realtors.
“All systems work for us,” Commissioner Eric Altamirano said at an online news conference Wednesday. “We can’t wait for all of our teams to be there and start playing.”
A preseason tournament for the 12 teams is established on October 19 in the bubble, which is a satellite campus of the National University.
The first stage will begin on October 21, followed by three more stages every other day in the tournament that has Gatorade as its official hydration partner.
Finally, P1 million will be up for grabs in the Grand Final of the tournament sponsored by the International 3 × 3 Basketball Federation on October 30.
Players had to go through another round of testing before entering the state-of-the-art complex. They will undergo a two-day quarantine within their rooms before being allowed to train.
