FIVE Philippine squads are out to defend the homecourt as the Chooks-to-Go Manila Challenger tips off this weekend at SM Fairview.
Top Filipino clubs Pasig Chooks and Balanga Chooks lead the homeside as they have their sights set on clinching a spot to the 2019 Fiba 3x3 World Tour Jeddah Masters in October.
World no. 115 Joshua Munzon banners the Pasig side together with Dylan Ababou, Troy Rike, and Serbian reinforcement Nikola Pavlovic.
Meanwhile, Alvin Pasaol, ranked 122nd-best in the world, will be at the heart of the Balanga onslaught as he'll team up with Karl Dehesa and American studs Travis Franklin and Lamar Roberson.
Roosevelt Adams also returns for Isabela City Chooks as he reunites with Franky Johnson, Gab Banal, and shifty American import Marcus Hammonds.
Naturalized Filipino player Marcus Douthit leads Narvacan City, where he joins forces with Gian Abrigo, Jojo Cunanan, and Dan Reducto, while Zamboanga banks on Davon Potts, Das Esa, Jonathan Parreno, and Congolese slotman Rod Ebondo.
Balanga, seeded 10th, is the only Philippine squad through to the main draw as it is slotted in Pool A with world no. 2 Riga Ghetto of Latvia and Humpolec Bernard of Czech Republic.
Pasig, on the other hand, will be hard-pressed to top Qualifying Draw B as the world's 28th-best 3x3 crew battles fellow Filipino clubs Isabela City and Zamboanga. The top team from that group books a spot in Pool D of the main draw, where world no. 17 Kranj of Slovenia and world no. 21 Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy of Mongolia await.
Narvacan City, on the other hand, is in Qualifying Draw A where it will face Aussie side Melbourne iAthletic and Indonesia's Jakarta South, with the group's top seed moving on to Pool C to clash against world no. 10 Gagarin of Russia and world no. 24 Belgrade NetTV of Serbia.
Completing the field are world no. 8 Amsterdam of Netherlands, no. 30 Antwerp of Belgium, and Lyon of France which make up Pool B.
The two teams to reach the Finals of the Manila Challenger will earn a spot in Jeddah, with the champion bagging the USD 15,000 cash prize and the runner-up taking home USD 10,000.
In the event that Balanga, which already booked its ticket to Jeddah courtesy of its Finals appearance in the Patriot's Cup, reaches the Finals, the slot will be given to the third place team.
The third-place squad will also gain USD 5,000, while the fourth-ranked team will bring home USD 2,000.
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