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Also check out: the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Schedule
The first-ever FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru from 18 to 22 March and the Indian men and women teams for the same have been announced.
The four-man men's squad comprises guards Rajan Sharma, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, forward Aravind Annadurai and centre Amritpal Singh. The women's team features guard Shireen Limaye and forwards Navaneetha PU, Sreekala Rani and Pushpa Senthil Kumar.
Tough task for India
Both the Indian teams have been seeded 20th, among the 20 participating teams. There are four pools in total, with 5 teams each.
Men's campaign
The Indian men's team in Pool D also includes the Netherlands (3), Latvia (5), Croatia (12) and Canada (13).
The men's campaign will begin against Canada at 5:30 PM on 19th March 2020, followed by Latvia at 7:25 PM. Thereafter, it will face Croatia and Netherlands on 21st March, at the same timings.
Women's campaign
The Indian women's team is also placed in Pool D alongside Italy (4), Chinese Taipei (5), Switzerland (12) and Spain (13).
The women's campaign will begin against Chinese Taipei at 6:10 PM on 18th March 2020, followed by Switzerland at 7:25 PM. Thereafter, the team will face Spain and Italy on 20th March, at the same timings.
Qualification process
The top two teams from each pool progress to the quarterfinals, followed by the semis and finals. Only the top three teams out of the 20 participating teams in each gender will book their tickets at the Tokyo Olympics, where 3x3 basketball will be making its historic debut.
In addition to the six teams that qualify via the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the hosts (Japan), remaining teams qualify via their FIBA 3x3 Federation Ranking and the results of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2019 (the medalists).
You can keep track of the Indian men's performance here and the women's performance here. All games will be held at the Kanteerava Stadium complex in Bengaluru, from 10:35 AM onwards on 18th March. The entire tournament is also expected to be streamed live on FIBA 3x3's YouTube channel.
