Basketball

Captain Huỳnh Thị Ngoan (centre) and Trương twins will be in the Việt Nam Red&Gold team to compete in the Asia Tour 3x3 basketball event on April 22-23 in the Philippines. Photos: webthethao.vn

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's national basketball team is set to make its mark at the upcoming Asia Tour 3x3 tournament in the Philippines, showcasing their skills against top-tier teams across Asia and Oceania.

With the competition featuring a mix of both national and professional squads, the stage is set for an exhilarating battle of the best.

This event, taking place at the prestigious Mall of Asia Music Hall, is the first in a series of multi-city competitions that are set to take the sporting world by storm.

With a whopping US$25,000 in prizes up for grabs, it's no wonder that 20 teams from six countries have descended on Manila to showcase their talent, including 12 men's and eight women's teams.

For the Vietnamese squad, this is a chance to show their mettle and prove that they have what it takes to compete at the highest level. 

“Three-on-three basketball is fast becoming one of the popular sports these days, and it is just the right thing to start the Asia Tour 3×3 to a country whose love for the sport is almost unparalleled,” said Asia Tour 3×3 founder Connor Nguyễn of Việt Nam.

The women’s side will have two groups during the pool phase composed of four teams that will figure in qualification games in a single round-robin format. The top two teams at the end of the qualifying round advance to the crossover knockout semi-finals.

Việt Nam Red&Gold team, which took home the silver medal in the last Southeast Asian  (SEA) Games in Hà Nội, is bringing in a formidable squad with twins Trương Thảo My and Trương Thảo Vy and captain Huỳnh Thị Ngoan. Newcomer Nguyễn Thị Tiểu Duy joins them.

Other squads are Uratex Tibay, Uratex Dreams and Discovery Pelas of the hosts, along with Malaysia’s Harimau A and B, Singapore’s SG Lioness and Thailand’s Sniper.

Only the top two teams will advance to the crossover semifinals, with the winners facing off in the championship game. The champion will take home the $5,000 cash prize, while the runner-up will bag $2,500 in this FIBA Lite Quest level five event.

Việt Nam Red&Gold men's team at the Asia Tour 3x3.

On the men's side, 12 teams are divided into four groups. Việt Nam has two representatives, The Performance Lab and the national team Việt Nam Red&Gold.

Other teams include TNT Triple Giga, Cavitex and Demigod of the Philippines. Rising Star, Harimau A and Harimau B fly the colours of Malaysia, while SG Lion from Singapore and 3BL from India represent the pride of their countries.

Teams will play a single-round robin format in the pool phase. The top teams from each group get an outright ticket to the quarter-finals, while the second and third placers figure in a crossover play-in matchup to determine which last four teams will advance to the playoffs.

The male champions will receive $10,000 and qualify for the FIBA Challenger events. Two runners-up will take $5,000 and $2,500, respectively.

After Manila, the national teams will return home and move to Phnom Penh for their SEA Games campaign, where they both target top positions after missing their gold medals in the last seconds at the previous Games on home soil. VNS