MANILA -- Pasig and 1Bataan will deal with tough opponents in the preliminaries of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters on Maundy Thursday.
Pasig, seeded eighth in the Doha Masters, are grouped in Pool A with top-seeded Liman of Serbia and host team Katara.
Meanwhile, the 11th-seeded Risers, to be named Balanga Chooks for the said tourney, have Latvia's Riga Ghetto, which is seeded third and Russia's Moscow Inanomo, seeded sixth, in their own group, Pool C.
"The competition of the World Tour will be really tough," said Coach Eric Altamirano, the commissioner of the Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas 3x3, during the send-off press conference for the two Filipino sides, the top two teams in the said domestic league's President's Cup, at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria in Pasig on Friday.
But he added, "I really believe that we are sending two of the best teams for the World Tour."
As added motivation, Bounty Agro-Ventures Inc. president Ronald Mascarinas said, "Always remember, ang laban na ito ay para sa bayan. You are fighting for our country."
The top two teams in each of the four pools will qualify for the knockout stages on Good Friday.
Pool B will have Doha's own 3x3 team, Tokyo Dime, the winner of the Chooks-To-Go Asia-Pacific 3x3 Super Quest, and Novi Sad.
Pool C consists of Slovenian squads Piran and Ljubljana and Canada's Mount-Royal U McGill. (PNA)
