Record 10 countries to joust in Manila Hustle 3x3 Season 4

Handout photo.MANILA — 16 teams will once again wage war as the Manila Hustle 3x3 Season 4 returns at SM Mall of Asia Music Hall this February 7 and 8.

Two-time defending champion Zoos Tokyo is once again coming in as the team-to-beat, with the Japan-based club ruling the Fiba Level 5 tournament in its last two editions.

Onus is on the five local crews, namely Gilas Pilipinas Women 3x3 and U23 teams, Uratex Dream and Tibay, and Pilipinas Aguilas to defend home turf and show once again that the Philippine clubs are among the world's elite in the halfcourt.

But doing so won't be easy, especially with 10 more clubs from nine other countries all flying in to chase glory in the Philippine women's 3x3 international invitational that has Uratex, Smart, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), B'lue, Titan, and Lanson Place as partners.

Valencia Basketball of Spain and the New Zealand national team are among the eight new international teams joining this season which also includes Flowlish Gunma of Japan, CTBC Unity Fire of Chinese Taipei, and Southeast Asian teams Hanoi Basketball of Vietnam, EST Jersey of Malaysia, CT Tigers of Thailand, and the Singaporean national team.

Completing the field are returnees Hansol Remicon of Korea and Shoot It Dragons of Thailand.

Season 4 has a USD8,000 prize pool, with USD4,000 awaiting the champion in this tournament which also has Wilson, Laurin Oil, and Secret Fresh as major sponsors.