Last May 27 and 28, hundreds of streetballer teams in Manila collided to determine the city’s Top 6 teams who will compete at the National Finals of Red Bull Half Court. The 2nd batch of teams who qualified will be part of the long-awaited series of matches to determine the country’s representative at the World Finals in Serbia on September 2023.
The two-day tournament brought out the best of the best from Manila’s top basketball teams. Every player from each team had the opportunity to showcase their full potential in hopes of securing a spot in the National Finals. The following teams will join Cebu’s qualified teams in the National Finals are:
Men’s Division:
- Team EGS ELITE 23
- Team RV Sports
- Team Dominican Pikemen
- Team Ebus Boyz
Women’s Division:
- Team Lady Falcons 1
- Team La Filipina Blue Fire
“We expect the National Finals to be very competitive, considering we’re getting the champion teams from the Cebu and Manila qualifiers. Plus, we invited wild card teams, which we expect to be very competitive since most of them are really playing 3×3 professionally,” said Coach Eric Altamarino, the Tournament Commissioner of Red Bull Half Court Philippines.
The introduction of wild card teams into the mix is Red Bull Half Court’s unique twist into the tournament to help bring out even further the competitive drive of the qualified teams from both Cebu and Manila.
The selected members of the wildcard teams will be comprised of the country’s top basketball players. In the Men’s Division, one notable team who will be participating is the champion of the 3×3 Asia Tour, the TNT Triple Giga Team, consisting of Almond Vosotros, Ping Exciminiano, Gryann Mendoza, and Lervin Flores.
Meanwhile, the Women’s Division will witness the participation of renowned female athletes such as established 3×3 player Kaye Pingol, National University’s team captain Mikka Cacho, and former Gilas Pilipinas Women player Raiza Palmera-Dy.
Catch the National Finals on June 3 at the Taguig Community Center. The winner of the National Finals will be the country’s representative at the World Finals of Red Bull Half Court in Serbia on September.