Specialist basketball teams from around the world will be in action at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Homestretch Avenue in Georgetown this weekend, contending for supremacy when the ‘One Guyana’ 3×3 Quest gets underway.
Teams were practising on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s international tournament
Competing for a grand prize of US$5000 and a spot in the FIBA World Tour in Edmonton, Canada, 16 foreign teams will be in contention against three of their local counterparts as each team vies to make their dreams come true.
On the eve of what promises to be a fantabulous event, Vice-President of the Guyana Basketball Federation (GBF), tournament organiser Rawle Toney, spoke to the event’s historic element as he shared on what to expect.
“This weekend is the biggest 3×3 tournament to be ever held in Guyana and the English-speaking Caribbean. Unfortunately, Grenada pulled out yesterday, but the show must go on. We still have 19 teams, which is unprecedented for a 3×3 tournament in the region in general.”
Teams were practising on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s international tournament
He told this publication, “What we have is literally some of the best 3×3 teams in the world: Team Lausanne, which is ranked 7th in the world. We have several players who play with Harlem, which is ranked just about 12th or 14th. We have Carolina from Puerto Rico, another one of the top-ranked teams in the world. So, consider a player from…some of the top 100 players in the world competing in Guyana. I don’t think any one of us would have envisioned we would host a tournament like this.”
Team Puerto Rico, a big contender for the top spot, was among teams present at the Homestretch Avenue location getting their drills in on Friday afternoon. Team player Antonio Ralat revealed that he expects to see talented payers on show, but says he is confident of his team’s chances.
Teams were practising on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s international tournament
“We’re enjoying it so far! We got here late yesterday; we’re excited for the tournament! It’s going to be good for Guyana, and we’re excited to play here. I expect there to be a lot of talent; I mean, we know that it’s a lot of teams that don’t play in the World Tour because they’re far away, but we know that the Caribbean and the Americas, we have a lot of talent. So, we’re expecting a really good talent, and we’re all for the challenge!” Ralat expressed.
“We’re excited for both!” this player said of the cash prize on offer together with the opportunity to participate in the World Tour. “We want to keep playing; and obviously, we do this for the money as well! But we love the game, and the more tournaments we can get to, our final goal is to reach the World Tour at the end. So, we’ve got to win this tournament to get there.”
As highest-ranked player in the tournament (47th in the World), Ralat confidently declared, “Every tournament that we go, we play to win! So, our expectations are to win! We know that every team is going to want to do the same; so, we got to be ready for the competition.”
Action in this tournament would begin at 10:00hrs on both days, with the final scheduled for Sunday evening. The teams are competing for first- to third-place cash prizes of US$5000; US$2000 and US$1000 respectively.
