MIES, Switzerland, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) — China is likely one of the most lively international locations for 3×3 basketball occasions in 2023 and may have extra 3×3 tournaments subsequent 12 months, a high official of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) stated right here on Monday.
Ignacio Soriano, the FIBA 3×3 Head of Events and Partnerships, talked to Xinhua on the FIBA Headquarters close to Geneva after the 3×3 World Tour in Shanghai, China, which concluded final weekend, promising to place China on the calendar extra continuously subsequent 12 months.
“China is one of the countries having more activities in the professional level,” Soriano stated. “We’re going to have three (more) World Tours by the end of this year. We had seven challengers, three women’s series. So basically, we have been hosting every single different event of the competition network.”
The World Tour will transfer to Chengdu of China this weekend on October 21-22 and the Wuxi cease is scheduled on November 4-5. There can be Hong Kong, China, to host the occasion, which has 13 stops in 2023, on November 25-26.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament will begin on November 1. The qualification simulation relies on the FIBA 3×3 Federation Ranking, on which China is ranked first within the girls’s and third within the males’s classes.
“By October 16, the women’s team is the first in the world and men’s third in the world. If the ranking would be closed today, they would have been qualified directly to Olympic Games, both men’s and women’s. This proves that things are being done properly (in China),” Soriano stated.
“We have plans next year to have a super league within China. We have very ambitious plans to keep having the best events of the competition network in China. The plan is to have at least the same number of events next year. We are positive and expect to have more,” he added.
3×3 basketball was launched into the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, the place the Chinese nationwide crew gained the bronze medal within the girls’s competitors. The inaugural 3×3 home league in China began in August 2022.
“I think 3×3 is more accessible. Basically, it can be played everywhere. You don’t need a license, you don’t need to have the court with all the infrastructure,” Soriano stated. “I would not compare it with 5×5. I think this is two different products. The training is different, the tactic is different, the strength that you need to have for one and the other is different.”
“We are already negotiating the World Cup in 2026. We have a specific support presentation plan to execute the events and to remember the experience that not only from sport, but from the sport plus entertainment,” he added.