By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno | Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Pasig scored a fifth-place finish in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Doha Masters that took place over the holidays in Doha.
A 19-16 shocker over then world number one Liman in the pool stages highlighted Pasig’s impressive campaign in the said tournament.
However, the Kings’ stint came to an abrupt end in the quarterfinals after bowing to the Riga Ghetto, 12-21.
Interestingly enough, Riga also suffered a loss in the preliminaries to the other Filipino team in the field, Balanga.
Balanga also came up short in its own bid, losing to Liman, 9-21, in the quarterfinals.
Despite the early exit, Coach Eric Altamirano was satisfied with the performance of the two Filipino teams.
“We made a statement that we belong here in the World Tour,” said Altamirano, the commissioner of the Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas 3×3, where both the Kings and the Risers play domestically.
They were actually tied in fifth in the final rankings, but the Kings held the tiebreaker due to more points scored in the entire tournament.
Pasig pocketed USD5,000 (around PHP258,000) for the fifth-place finish.
Aside from that, the team also climbed up the FIBA 3×3 men’s club ladder drastically.
From 51st place, the Kings moved up 24 spots to 27th overall.
In effect, the Philippines also zoomed to 30th place in the men’s ranking and 31st in the overall ranking.
To have a shot at making at least the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the Philippines must be inside the Top 24 in the overall rankings.
“We are elated with this development but the work is far from over,” said Ronald Mascariñas, the founder of the Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas 3×3.
Pasig will return to action on May 18-19 for the Kun Shan Challenger, a qualifying tournament for the Chengdu Masters, in China.
Pasig’s upset of Liman also affected the Serbian side’s cause as the said squad, coupled by its loss in the final to Riga, dropped to second in the men’s club ranking.
Riga’s cross-country rival Novi Sad reclaimed the number one spot despite actually losing to Riga in the semifinals.
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