The champions of the 19U category, Annie’s Way AMA 1, with the Paras brothers and Mr. Clement Chen
AMA University swept the 2019 Taiwan Excellence 3-on-3 Hoop Challenge by grabbing 2 championship titles for the Seniors and Juniors Divisions last Sunday at the SM Megamall. The final matches saw an all-AMA battle where schoolmates battled against their own schoolmates for the first place.
The Seniors Division saw Annie’s Way-AMA defeating Feca-AMA at a score of 18-14. They winners took home trophies and gift items from the sponsors of the events which are all Taiwan tech companies.
Feca was enjoying a 14-13 lead with a minute left when Annie’s Way guard JayRdela Rosa made four points to take the lead. And by the eight-second mark, with a score of 17-14, Christian Germino punctuated the victory with a buzzer-beater.
It was a remarkable game. It was a thrilling moment to see a team from behind finally rising to nab the title. And what’s more fascinating is that Annie’s Way played with only three players – dela Rosa, Germino and Alec Catorce – since their fourth man Joshua Sabile got injured in a previous game.
Coach Mark Herrera who was reduced to a spectator since 3X3 rules prohibit coaching during games said in an interview about the win:
“Before the finals, I told all the players not to hold back just because they are playing against their teammates and show the audience what AMA basketball is all about and they responded very well.
The boys took this tournament seriously – they did extra work before and after our regular practices.”
Meanwhile at the Juniors division, Annie’s Way once again beat Feca-AMA at 13-12. Earl Bryan Ceniza was the hero of the game, making a basket at only 38 seconds left at the clock. His teammates were Zheanriz Romero, Joshua Villamor and Josh Reymond Colina.
The competition was expanded into two age-based divisions namely the 16 – 18-year-old bracket and 19-year-old and up bracket. This year’s tournament boasted a whopping total of 192 teams amounting to 768 players altogether. The elimination rounds commenced last month and too only 8 players per division to battle for the championship title at the SM Megamall Event Center last June 29 – 30.
This year’s tournament also featured ‘Band of Brothers’ Kobe Paras of UP Fighting Maroons and Andre Paras of Imus Bandera as the new tournament ambassadors.
Also at the event was the director of the Strategic Marketing Department of Taiwan External Trade Development Council Chun Tse Wu. He said in a speech:
“We want this to be an avenue to inspire young Filipinos to always strive to reach their very best, in the same way Taiwan Excellence pushes its brands to always innovate and upgrade.”
Taiwan Excellence, an award-giving body that recognizes only the best Taiwanese brands and products, mounted the tournament anew to find the newest batch of Filipino talents.
To catch more of Taiwan Excellence,they have several events lined up that will surely excite more Filipinos. For e-gamers, the Taiwan Excellence E-sports Cup will be held in Manila on October 4-6. They will also join the Internet-of-Things Business Platform at Marriott Manila taking place July 24-25, as well as the Taiwan Expo in Davao happening this November 8-9.
