BY ABBY TORALBA
THE Gilas Pilipinas women’s squad will banner local teams vying to defend home court in the coming Manila Hustle 3×3 Season 2 on Feb. 3 and 4 at the Mall of Asia Music Hall in Pasay.
The Nationals, expected to be led by Afril Bernardino, are one of seven Filipino teams in the women’s 3×3 international invitational tourney presented by Uratex and Smart.
Other Filipino squads raring to prove their worth in the meet supported by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas as official technical partner, Seiko as official timekeeper, and B’lue as official hydration partner are the Uratex Dream, Uratex Tibay, Titans, Army Altama, Discovery Perlas, and Bluefire LPG.
The Uratex Dream brought glory to the country after finishing third in the women’s division of the Jumpshot 3×3 International Tournament in Bukit Panjang Plaza in Singapore earlier this year.
Among those expected to show the way for the Uratex Dream are Kaye Pingol, Sam Harada, Mikka Cacho, and Eunique Chan.
The Philippine quartets will be tested by six other countries — Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Australia and India.
Returning in this year’s Manila Hustle 3×3 are Dinoman Hansol of Korea, Owls.EXE and Zoos Tokyo of Japan, Shoot It Dragons of Thailand, and Jumpshot from Singapore.
Also competing are the Tokyo Dime of Japan, Korean team Unicle, Royals Basketball of Australia, and Shiv Nadar School of India.
