DEJECTED is Joshua Munzon as Manila Chooks TM crashed out of the 2020 Fiba 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters early Saturday (Manila time).
Munzon gave it all for the squad, yet it wasn't enough as the Filipinos went winless in Qatar and failed to make it through to the playoffs.
"No excuses," said Munzon as Manila suffered a tough 15-22 defeat to world no. 1 Liman of Serbia before a shocking 14-19 upset to home team Lusail.
The Fil-Am guard actually was the second highest scorer in the group stages, carrying the torch for the Philippine team with his 17 total points.
Yet the Filipinos just had a hard time in Pool A, overwhelmed by the experience of the Stefan Stojacic's Liman before failing to find the answers to Lusail's towering roster of Souley Ndour and Ousseynou Mbow, both from Senegal, and Greek import Kostas Vasileiadis.
Munzon had another shot at salvaging the trip for Manila Chooks, but he fell a basket short of making it through to the Two-Point Shootout Final and only had four makes.
It was a bitter campaign for the Philippine crew, which hoped to replicate their success last year as Munzon's Pasig finished in fifth place and Alvin Pasaol's Balanga ending up sixth.
Manila Chooks' exit means that the 3x3 season is over for the Filipinos, falling short of the $40,000 cash prize for the champion as well as in its bid to qualify for the 2020 Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final in Jeddah in December.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
