Bengaluru, India, January 30, 2020: The Basketball Federation of India has announced that basketball is making its way back to the “Garden City” as Bengaluru is set to host the Olympic 3x3 qualifiers. The city will welcome 40 teams from March 18-22.
Having already hosted successful editions of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup, Bengaluru will once again play host to basketball's elite. Forty teams - 20 for each gender - will battle it out for six tickets to Tokyo 2020.
The tournament will be jointly organised by FIBA, the sport's world governing body, and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).
Govindaraj Kempareddy, President of the BFI, welcomed the return of international basketball to the city.
“We are excited to welcome teams from 36 different countries to Bengaluru, a city which has played host to successful FIBA competitions in recent history,” he said.
Bengaluru has fast built a track record for being the “home of basketball” in India.
It was first awarded the FIBA Women's Asia Cup in 2017, before holding another successful edition of the continental tournament last year.
Now it will be the backdrop for the urban form of the sport, where two teams of three players each battle it out on a half court.
Basketball 3x3 will make its first appearance at an Olympics at Tokyo 2020. Sixteen teams - eight in each gender - will be contesting for a place on the podium.
For the upcoming Olympic qualifiers, India's men have been drawn in Pool D alongside Latvia, Canada, the Netherlands and Croatia.
Meanwhile the women's team will take on Spain, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei and Italy.
After playing each other, the top two from each of the four pools will advance to the knockout stages of the competition.
Source: The Olympic Channel