World no.1 Liman face Manila in tough Doha Masters opener on Friday
DOHA (Qatar): Manila Chooks will have a lot of local support when take on World no.1 Liman of Serbia when they clash on Day 1 of the Doha Masters event of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour.
The Filipino community, based in Qatar who are passionate about the game, will be in the full force to cheer their favourite team.
The local flavor will be provided by Lusail team. Vasileiadis Kostantinos, Ousseynou Mbow, Mame Souleye Ndour and Hamza Maher Radi from Lusail team will be looking for a good show in familiar home conditions.
The Doha Masters features four of the top five ranked teams in the world, and will provide tons of excitement for 3×3 fans with the World Tour having been on hold since the first three Masters of the season were played in Hungary in late August-early September.
The event in Qatar – a site of several famous 3×3 moments – will also provide opportunities for several teams to secure coveted places at next month’s World Tour Final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The two-day event taking place in Doha, was part of the World Tour and according to the original schedule was to take place in April but had to pushed back to the present date on account of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Qatar leads from front
The basketball event is one of the few sporting events held in the sporting world. Qatar has been leading from the front by delivering several international events in the recent months including the Diamond league athletics meet, and the AFC Champions League West Zone football event.
From Wednesday, AFC Champions league East Zone matches have kicked off in Doha.
All the events are held under the ‘bio bubble’ and are held according to the guidelines frame by the health authorities laid down by the Qatar government.
All eyes will be on Manila Chooks when they on Liman of Serbia, who are upbeat with the return of superstar Stefan Stojacic, Liman dominated in Hungary with victories at the Debrecen and Europe Masters.
The in-form Serbs headline Pool A but are expected to face a tough battle against No.9 seed Manila Chooks, who are led by Philippines’ best 3×3 players Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol.
At last year’s exciting Doha Masters, eventual runners-up Liman were stunned by Munzon-led Pasig Chooks on Day 1 and will be keen to avoid another boilover. Locals Lusail of Qatar will be hoping to make it more than a two-horse race in Pool A.
Defending champions Riga of Latvia will be the team to beat from Pool B and look to add to the title they won at the Hungary Masters. The return to Doha should bring happy memories for Karlis Lasmanis who took flight last year to claim MVP and deliver Riga their first ever Masters victory.
The No.2 seed will be hot favorite against No.7 Jeddah, Sasudi Arabia and Yoyogi Crayon.EXE of Japan although the former have shown their ability to produce upsets having memorable defeated powerhouse Novi Sad at the Europe Masters.
If there is a group of death, it’s surely Pool C featuring No.3 seed NY Harlem of USA No.6 Lausanne Katapult of Switzerland and No.14 Utena Uniclub of Lithuania. The New Yorkers made the semis of the last two Masters but are no guarantee to get out of such a loaded group.
They, however, will play with their renowned swagger and have good reason to be confident having beaten Utena at the Debrecen Masters.
Utena recovered from that defeat to storm to the final on their World Tour debut with offensive genius Ignas Vaitkus emerging as a breakout star. The Lithuanians will be out to prove they aren’t just a one-hit wonder.
The talented Lausanne usually underachieve but showcased exactly why they have long been highly rated with a semi-final finish at the Europe Masters.
