CEBU City, Philippines – Cebu Chooks adds a new face on its campaign as the FIBA 3×3 World Tour enters the final stretch with the Riyadh Masters on November 11 & 12 at the Formula E Track in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Chooks to Go took American Marcus Hammonds as its second reinforcement following the release of Cebuano Zach Huang.
The addition of Hammonds gives Cebu Chooks a very potent line-up behind Cebuano hotshot Mac Tallo who is currently ranked as the world’s no.3 and the country’s no.1 player.
However, it would be a tall order for the Philippine squad as they are scheduled to play the tournament no.1 seed Ub Huishan NE of Serbia. Ub is currently no.1 team in the world tour after accumulating a total of 2,324,214 points, which is 500,000 more points than Tokyo Olympic gold medal winner and Cebu Masters champions Team Riga of Latvia which has 1,869,061.
Aside from Tallo and Hammonds, Cebu Chook will have Cameroonian import Mike Harry Nzeusseu and Fil-Canadian Brandon Ramirez in trying to improve the standings and chances of the Philippine squad to get an Olympic ticket.
Hammonds, previously joined Roosevelt Adams and Gab Banal during the Hongxiang Holdings Group Haining Challenger 2019. With Hammonds, Cebu Chooks has filled up its six-team roster for the season.
“Good thing Marcus has been here in the country and has been training with us,” said Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 head trainer Chico Lanete. “Marcus is also very familiar with the local 3×3 scene, competing with numerous teams here.”
Currently the 26th ranked team in the world, Cebu Chooks will need to be at their best and more in Riyadh where the list of teams joining features a who’s who in the world of 3×3 basketball.
Cebu Chooks is bracketed in Pool A. They will be facing world no. 1 UB at 1 AM on Saturday before taking on Doha of Qatar at 3:05 AM.
Ub has won four Masters tournaments so far, including the 2022 Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3×3 World Tour Manila Masters. However, they finished seventh in Paris last month.
Meanwhile, Doha has competed in the Cebu and Paris Masters.
“We are tempering expectations for this tournament as we are currently rebuilding our Cebu team,” said Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas. “We are just hoping for a good showing for Mac and Brandon in Riyadh.”
The games will be streamed live on the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas Facebook page or the FIBA 3×3 Youtube channel and Facebook page. Rommel C. Manlosa with PR
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