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Basketball: Pingol, Guytingco lead 7 Pinays in WKBL 3x3

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Levi Joshua Verora Jr.

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Pinay cagers competing in the WKBL 3x3 Triple Jam. Photo by Levi Joshua Verora Jr." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/06/22/wkbl-girls-2.jpg"/><figcaption>The Pinay cagers competing in the WKBL 3x3 Triple Jam. Photo by Levi Joshua Verora Jr.</figcaption></figure></div>Seven Filipina basketball players will showcase their wares in the first WKBL 3x3 Triple Jam competition happening from June 24 to 25 in Seoul, South Korea.Uratex Dream mainstays Kaye Pingol (Philippines No. 5) and Tina Deacon (No. 9) will join forces with Discovery&#x27;s Allana Lim (No. 25) to serve as imports for Jumpshot Singapore, a squad owned by Esther Quek, where they will play together with Singaporean national 3x3 team member Kang Yi Tan.&quot;We are happy and grateful because paunti-unti, nagbo-boom na ang women&#x27;s basketball dito, lalo na ang 3x3,&quot; Pingol said.&quot;Marami nang events, at maraming women ballers are nabibigyan ng chance maglaro. This is a good platform to elevate women&#x27;s basketball in the Philippines too.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/21/23/3-ph-teams-to-compete-in-womens-asia-tour-3x3">3 PH teams to compete in women’s Asia Tour 3x3</a></li></ul>Meanwhile, the Titans are composed of Katrina Guytingco (No. 11), Hazelle Yam (No. 14), Camille Claro (No. 39), and Snow Peñaranda (No. 61).The group is coached by current Ateneo women&#x27;s basketball team assistant Bacon Austria, with Mary Joy Galicia (No. 107) serving as a reserve player.According to Titan&#x27;s Atty. Mariana Lopa, it was Guytingco who approached the management group about forming a squad for the WKBL.&quot;When Trina approached us, sabi ko sa kanya, kahit anong mangyari, hahanapin natin ng paraan &#x27;yan. We&#x27;re really trying to find ways for the girls to play, aside from the very few opportunities here,&quot; she said.Guytingco said team officials of the Korean 1EYEHANSOL team that participated in the Manila Hustle 3x3 event last February in Quezon City had been in touch with her regarding sending a Philippine contingent to the WKBL 3x3.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/28/23/asia-tour-3x3-after-manila-success-saigon-2-more-cities-eyed">Asia Tour 3x3: After Manila success, Saigon, 2 more cities eyed</a></li></ul>&quot;Hopefully this builds the bridges between our basketball communities,&quot; Guytingco said. &quot;It’s cool that we get to go to Korea and the teams that we’re playing are from the Korean women’s league, so we get to see how the competition is, how they play, we get to introduce them to us and show them how we play.&quot;Familiarity will not be an issue for the Titans too, as the UAAP careers of Guytingco and Yam, two former Blue Eagles, both overlapped with rivals Claro and Peñaranda, two former Lady Archers.Now all in the same roster, the Titans look forward to bringing out the best in each other.&quot;It&#x27;s super exciting because we were rivals before, and now, teammates ko na sina Trina and Hazel. Masaya dahil natututo kami sa bawat isa, kahit ngayon lang kami nagkakasama, nakaka-adjust agad kami,&quot; Claro said.The chemistry showed when the Titans wrapped up their two-week local training camp in Mandaluyong City last Tuesday with a 3-0 record, posting victories over the Dream, Gilas Women, and UST&#x27;s alumni in a mini scrimmage series organized by Lopa.&quot;In building the team, we considered players who already know 3x3, kasi ibang game talaga ‘to,&quot; Lopa added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/06/23/lady-macbeth-riots-rule-manila-hustle-3x3">Lady Macbeth Riots rule Manila Hustle 3x3</a></li></ul>&quot;Hopefully, this becomes a model. This is something we can do in the long run. Asia, Europe, 3x3 or one or two players in the five-on-five abroad, that’s definitely the dream.&quot;The 13-team, FIBA 3x3 Level 4 tournament will have seven Korean teams, three Japanese selections, and one each from the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.The Titans are placed in Group C along with Team Korea and the Toyota Antelopes while Jumpshot is in Group D with Hana Oneq, BNK SUM, and ZOOS.Completing the cast are Woori Won, Shinhan SBirds, and WILL in Group A, and Samsung Life, KB Stars, and Shoot It Dragons in Group B.After playing a single round, the top two finishers in each of the four groups advance to the knockout rounds on Sunday.Like her teammate Pingol, Deacon expects nothing but the highest level of competition in the tournament.&quot;I really expect the competition to be tough, given that there will be Olympians, national teams, and even imports. It just gives you the chills because you will be competing with the best teams from different countries,&quot; the 6-foot center said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/11/23/basketball-organizer-planning-manila-hustle-3x3-sequel">Basketball: Organizer planning Manila Hustle 3x3 sequel</a></li></ul>The seven players&#x27; participation in the WKBL 3x3 is the latest landmark event in what has been a year of breakthroughs for women&#x27;s basketball.In the 3x3 scene, the Philippines served as host to Manila Hustle and the Asia Tour 3x3. Discovery placed second in the inaugural VBA 3x3 in Vietnam. Gilas Women also improved on its SEA Games 3x3 performance with a silver medal finish while making it to the quarterfinal round of the FIBA Women&#x27;s 3x3 Asia Cup.Overall, the Philippines moved to No. 56 in the federation rankings for women, two places higher than where it was in March.Lopa calls the recent strides in women&#x27;s basketball as the product of years of hard work, and hopefully a wave which continues for everyone involved in the sport.&quot;Hindi ko masasabing swerte lang tayo. It’s something we built over the years. We took tiny steps towards this. We made mistakes along the way, pero ngayon nabubuo na ang matagal nating tina-trabaho. It’s a little bit of luck, timing, and a lot of work along the way,&quot; she said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/22/23/young-pinay-ballers-live-up-to-hype-in-rising-stars-classic">Young Pinay ballers live up to hype in Rising Stars Classic</a></li></ul>&quot;It feels magical because before, kapag patapos na ang UAAP career mo, akala mo, &#x27;yun na &#x27;yun, ang wala nang kasunod. But then, these 3x3 [tournaments] just show that women’s basketball in the country is progressing and is on its way to pave more opportunities for Filipinas,&quot; Yam added.RELATED VIDEO<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4-lXkR7cMDQ?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Seven Filipina basketball players will showcase their wares in the first WKBL 3x3 Triple Jam competition happening from June 24 to 25 in Seoul, South Korea.