Buhay pa ang pangarap na Olympics ng Pilipinas matapos na makakuha ito ng ticket sa gaganaping FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament sa India mula Marso 18 hanggang 22 sa susunod na taon.
Ginawa ng FIBA ang anunsyo sa isang gala sa Utsunomiya, Japan nitong Biyernes, na siyang pagdarausan ng 2019 World Tour Final.
Napadpad ang mga Pinoy sa Pool C, kung saan kagrupo nila ang Slovenia, France, Qatar, at Dominican Republic.
Bagama’t mahirap ang daang tatahakin ng Pinoy cagers, itinuturing pa rin itong welcome development ng Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).
“We’re very happy that the Philippines will be competing in the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament for a shot at making it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 3×3 is an area where Filipino basketball players can really excel and we’re delighted that a Filipino basketball team will get to test their skills against the world’s best,” wika ni SBP president Al Panlilio.
“The SBP thanks all the private promoters that held 3×3 events, especially Chooks-To-Go led by Ronald Mascarinas. We’re proud of the joint effort from the Philippines basketball community that helped us reach this goal.”
Sa panig naman ni Mascarinas, ito raw ay patunay sa lahat ng hirap na kanilang ginawa.
“We are extremely happy with this development. But we could not have done it without the combined efforts of everyone,” anang opisyal.
Maglalaban-laban sa tatlong slots para sa Tokyo Olympics ang 20 mga bansa.
Babandera sa Pool A ang Mongolia, Poland, Brazil, Turkey, at Spain; Pool B ang USA, Lithuania, Belgium, South Korea, at New Zealand; habang ang the Netherlands, Latvia, Canada, Croatia, at India naman sa Pool D.
Una nang nakausad sa Palaro ang host country na Japan, maging ang China, Serbia, at Russia.
