VINCE Tolentino will have his baptism of fire when he plays for the All-Filipino Cebu Chooks! crew competing in the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Penang Challenger on Sept. 10 to 11.
The 6-foot-5 all-around forward out of Ateneo joins Mac Tallo, Zach Huang, and Brandon Ramirez in the level nine FIBA 3×3 tournament that serves as a qualifier for the 2022 Paris Masters.
“I’m really excited as this will be my first 3×3 tournament. Definitely looking forward to competing with my new teammates and representing the country. I’ll do my best in fulfilling my role in the team,” said Tolentino.
Import Mike Nzeusseu was supposed to be part of the squad but his visa to Malaysia was not approved on time.
“This will be a good test for Cebu Chooks! on whether they can compete against top teams.
All of our efforts for the next month will be leading towards our hosting the Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3×3 Cebu World Tour Masters and Penang will be a good test for our team,” said Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas.
The Cebu Masters will be held on Oct. 1-2 at SM Seaside.
Cebu Chooks! is in Pool A along with Serbia’s Liman Huishan NE and Mongolia’s Zavkhan MMC Energy.
Cebu faces Mongolia’s second-best team on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. before squaring off against the second-best team in the world at 6:50.
The top two teams will advance to the knockout stages of the tournament that offers a $40,000 prize pool.
“I will use this tournament as my gauge on who will compose the Cebu team for the Cebu Masters. Hopefully, we can bounce back in this tournament and gain momentum for our hosting,” said head trainer Chico Lanete.
