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What's the story?
The city of Bengaluru will play host to the FIBA 3 x 3 Qualifying Tournament which is slated to begin from March 18th, in the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics 2020 due to be held later this year.
The background
Two years ago, on June 9th 2017, the sport of 3 x 3 Basketball was added to the Olympic Program and will debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The inaugural official 3 x 3 Basketball event was held in the year 2010 at the Singapore Youth Olympic Games.
The heart of the matter
The International Basketball Association (FIBA), the apex body of the basketball sport, and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) have decided to organize the 3 x 3 FIBA Basketball Olympics Qualifying tournament in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Bengaluru has previously played host to the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in 2017 and 2019. The tournament will feature a total of 40 teams, with 20 men's teams and 20 women's teams which will fight it out for spots in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Eight teams (four per gender) have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 courtesy their FIBA 3 x 3 Federation ranking.
A total of six spots (three for men and three for women) are up for grabs at the FIBA 3 x 3 Qualifying basketball tournament. Including the host teams (Indian men and women), the 40 teams have made it due to their FIBA 3 x 3 Federation ranking and their finish at the FIBA 3 x 3 World Cup 2019.
Govindaraj Kempareddy, the President of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) spoke after the announcement of Bengaluru as the host 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.
What's next?
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are set to be contested from July 24th to August 9th in Japan. The 3 x 3 Basketball event will take place at the Aomi Urban Sports Venue from July 25th to July 29th.
