FIBA Asia Quest 3x3 India Qualifiers to be held in Bengaluru this weekend

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) affiliated national 3x3 event will be taking off this weekend. The FIBA Asia Quest 3x3 - India Qualifiers are scheduled to be held in Bengaluru's Sree Kanteerava Stadium on June 23-24, 2018. This FIBA 3x3 event, organised under the aegis of the BFI, will feature 12 city-based teams in two categories (men and women) representing the BFI's affiliated units around India.

The winners and runners-up of the FIBA Asia Quest 3x3 – India Qualifiers will represent India at the South Asian Basketball Association (FIBA Sub-Zone) Quest stop. The SABA Quest stop carries a prize money of USD 10,000, with the top teams going on to the Quest Final.

BFI's president K Govindaraj said that the FIBA Asia Quest 3x3 – India Qualifiers were the ideal opportunity that the BFI were looking for to tip off the FIBA 3x3 movement in India. "FIBA 3x3 is a great concept is a boon for Indian basketball on many counts," said Govindraj. "It not only helps us widen the base for basketball thus increasing the popularity of basketball in India, but also is a fantastic opportunity to increase the number of the organisers for basketball events in India."

"The ultimate aim for BFI is to take the Indian team to the Olympic 3x3 competition."

This, of course, is not the first major 3x3 event in India. The YKBK Enterprise launched the 3BL, a FIBA-recognised 3x3 basketball league in India, two weeks ago in New Delhi. 3BL's first season is being held in six Indian cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Aizawl, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore - from June 9 to August 26 this year with twelve teams. This weekend, while the BFI's Asia Quest event takes place in Bengaluru, 3BL's second round will be in progress in Aizawl.

The BFI's launch of this 3x3 event doesn't come without controversy. On the same day as the 3BL announced their launch, the BFI announced a ban on all 3x3 players in India from playing in national 5x5 events, and vice versa. More recently, the BFI banned two players associated with the 3BL's launch - Amjyot Singh and Palpreet Singh Brar - from federation's national events for one year.

Now, the BFI is entering the competition with their own 3x3 event. The BFI's secretary-general Chander Mukhi Sharma said that the FIBA Asia Quest 3x3 – India Qualifiers will tip off their long-term FIBA 3x3 project.

"BFI has chalked out a long-term FIBA 3x3 program with a competition structure that will involve more than 500 games across India every year," said Sharma. "We do believe that the FIBA 3x3 is certainly the way forward and are certain that it will act as a catalyst in improving the standard of basketball along with increasing the popularity of the sport."

Games at the FIBA Asia Quest 3x3 – India Qualifiers are scheduled to tip off at 4 pm on Saturday June 23, 2018 and through the whole of Sunday at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium outdoor courts.

3BL - First-ever Indian pro 3x3 basketball league to begin in June

Compared to the full-length version of the game, Indian basketball has found a little more success in the international 3x3 stage. The shorter and more unpredictable format of the game has helped some Indian players make a mark overseas. Now, for the first time, this fast and furious version of hoops will make its biggest major inroad into India - with the country's first-ever FIBA-recognised professional 3x3 basketball league, the 3BL.

Run by YKBK Enterprise, who have been granted the exclusive rights contract from FIBA 3x3 for the Indian subcontinent, 3BL's first season will be held in six Indian cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Aizawl, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore - from June 9 to August 26 this year. The inaugural season of 3BL in India will feature 12 teams with international and Indian sensations like Amjyot Singh, Palpreet Singh Brar and international basketball sensations like Bikramjit Gill, Inderbir Singh Gill, Leandro Lima and many more.

3x3 Basketball is a 10-minute high speed basketball tournament and it officially became an Olympic sport in June 2017. It will be introduced in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

A special launch event for 3BL was held in Mumbai on April 25 in the presence of the tournament's organisers and many top league participants like Satnam Singh, Palpreet Singh, and Amjyot Singh.

Yoshia Kato, the chairman of 3BL said, "Seeing the performance of Indian origin players in the sport, we decided to start the first ever FIBA 3x3 recognised basketball league in India. We plan to make a serious impact on the growth of this sport in the country."

"Basketball has a fascinating story in India," said Rohit Bakshi, the commissioner of 3BL. "Till a few years ago, most people didn’t know anything about 3x3 Basketball and today it poses a serious opportunity. Our aim is to create a new fan base for basketball in India by promoting the 3x3 Basketball at a grassroots level and through wider outreach plans for viewers and players both."

"As the sporting landscape of our country changes and evolves, this short action-packed format will revolutionise basketball in India," said Sudhir Vashist, Chief of Marketing & Business Development, 3BL said, "It is definitely going to be a very appealing sport for both brands and audiences."

Before Season 1 of the 3BL begins, the list of participating players will be finalised on May 10, and the team draft will be held on the same day. There will be tryouts in Delhi and Bengaluru on May 13.

3BL Season 1 Schedule

• Round 1 – Delhi – June 9-10
• Round 2 – Aizawl – June 23-24
• Round 3 – Kolkata – July 7-8
• Round 4 – Chennai – July 21-22
• Round 5 – Bengaluru – August 11-12
• Round 6 (Final Round) – Mumbai – August 25-26

On 22nd & 23rd September 2018, FIBA 3x3 has allotted 3BL to host the 3x3 World Tour Masters in India. This is the first time that an International FIBA 3x3 event will be held in India and is one of the major events for the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Season. 12 teams will participate from across the World over a two-day event. 2 of those 12 teams will be from the 3BL Season 1 Clubs, selected based on their performance over the first two Rounds of the Season. The winners of Round 4 and 5 will be eligible to participate in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters in India. If the Winners are the same for both Round 4 and 5, or one of the teams are unable or unwilling to participate, then the 2nd place team from that Round will be eligible to participate.

A total of 12.1 lakh rupees prize money will be handed out during the course of the league.

India could be a big beneficiary of 3×3 basketball in the Olympics

This article was first published in my blog for The Times of India on June 16, 2017. Click here for the original piece.

I’ve played all formats of basketball: 5-on-5 full-courts, 1-on-1 around a single basket, playground “war”, Knockout, Air-21, or that simple lonesome shoot-around where I pretend to be an NBA star carrying team back from a Finals deficit against invisible defenders.
But the format I’ve played the most, and possibly the format most-actively played among amateur basketball players around the world, is 3-on-3. A good 3-on-3 contest provides with just enough of the beauty of basketball movement between the guard, swingman, and centre players to create a good flow in the game, allows for quick movement, passing, and attacking the basket, and a fast-pace overall game within the confines of the half-court.

In fact, the 3-on-3 format is so popular worldwide that FIBA – the international basketball federation – created official rules of the game under the FIBA 3×3 moniker several years ago. Over the past half-decade, FIBA has held 3×3 World Tours, continental championships, World Cups, and even created a world ranking of the best 3×3 performers. In the United States, a high-profile 3×3 league comprising of several retired NBA players called the BIG3 is set to be launched this summer.

But the biggest bit of news for 3×3 basketball lovers came this past week, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that this “new” format of the game was going to be added to the Olympics starting from the Tokyo Games in 2020. Traditional 5-on-5 basketball has been part of the Summer Olympics as a consistent event for Men and Women since 1936 and currently features twelve teams each in both divisions. Now, the Olympics will add another eight teams each (a total of 64 athletes) to play in the 3×3 Basketball Men and Women’s competitions in 2020.

This is a huge step forward for the sport. While Olympians in other disciplines like Track and Field, Swimming, Wrestling, Gymnastics, etc. have the opportunity to compete for multiple medals in the same year, those in team sports like Basketball compete only for one gold in each gender – which has traditionally been dominated by the USA. 3×3 will add more opportunities for basketball competition at the event and could help infuse more variety of challengers to the throne.

In its early years, Eastern European teams like Serbia, Slovenia, Russia, and Ukraine have been dominant in the 3×3 format, with Poland, the Netherlands, and of course, the United States not far behind. But what has been one of the more curious developments in the early years of international 3×3 is the success of India in the format.

India ranks low internationally in the traditional 5-on-5 format of the game, has never won a medal in a major Asian basketball competition, or qualified for an international FIBA World Cup. In 1980, the result of a number of nations refusing to play in Russia for the Moscow Olympics allowed India’s Men’s basketball squad to make their first and only Olympic experience. The squad, led by Indian hoop legends like Ajmer Singh, Paramjit Singh, Shyam Radhey, and Amarnath Nagarajan, lost all seven of their games by huge margins and finished last among the twelve participating teams. And yet, the experience left an indelible mark on
the game in India, even though we have never been close since to make a return to the Olympic stage.

In recent years at the Olympics, only one Asian team has been guaranteed a spot out of twelve in each gender’s tournaments, while a couple others have had the opportunity to sneak into the competition through pre-Olympic qualifiers. For India to have a chance at legitimacy returning to traditional Olympic basketball, we will first have to beat insurmountable odds to qualify for the FIBA World Cup, and then beat some more odds to finish among the best Asian countries at that event. The task isn’t impossible, but it will take the greatest combination of skill and luck available for either of our national teams.

But while India has lagged against the top nations at the full-form of the game, they have been able to sneak in a lot of recent success in the 3×3 format. The Basketball Federation of India (BFI), relatively early into the official introduction of FIBA 3×3, chose to feature many of the same top players that represent our full national teams to play in the 3×3 squads, too.

India has won the 3×3 basketball gold medal twice (once for men and once for women) at the Asian Beach Games since 2008. In May last year, India’s Women won the FIBA Asia 3×3 gold in Qatar. A week later, India’s under-18 men and women both won silver medals at the U18 FIBA Asia 3×3 championship in Thailand. India dominated the South Asian Beach games, winning double gold for both men and women a few years ago. India’s under-23 men’s team have also won a bronze at the KFC 3×3 international challenge in China. In 2014’s Asian Beach Games in Phuket, India’s men’s side returned with a silver medal.

In recent years, a 3×3 club squad of Indian-origin players, led by Chandigarh-born superstar Amjyot Singh, has become one of the most successful 3×3 tour teams in the world. After his performances at the 3×3 World Tour Finals in UAE, Amjyot was named the top ranked 3×3 player in the “rest of the world” category.

Of course, even with the recent success and star-power, India is a longshot to make the Olympics in the 3×3 format, too. Once the rest of the world begins to take this format of the game more seriously, India will lose their early advantage. Still, the addition of 3×3 in the Olympics will provide the BFI and Indian basketball another target to aim for and another realistic avenue of the game through which they can recruit young players to basketball.

And anyways, a hoop dreamer can dream, can’t he? You know what would be better than seeing Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry play in the NBA Finals? Seeing Durant, James, and Curry represent Team USA’s 3×3 Basketball team in the Olympics, while India’s own “Big Three” of Amjyot Singh, Amritpal Singh, and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi try to counter them. It might be a complete blowout, but it will be the most inspiring blowout for hoop-heads in India since the Moscow Olympics!

Hoopdarshan Episode 40: Basketball and Butter Chicken with Inderbir Gill

Hoopdarshan, India's finest basketball podcast, celebrates its 40th episode with an interview with Indo-American point guard Inderbir Gill. Gill joins hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok to talk about becoming a college basketball star, coaching NBA in India, starring for a world-renowned 3x3 basketball team, and finding the greatest Butter Chicken in the world.

In the new episode, Kaushik and Karan also discuss the new documentary on Indian basketball star Satnam Singh, India's performances at the Super Kung Sheung Cup, and the launch of the ACG-NBA Jump talent search programme, leading up to the new elite NBA Academy in India.




Hoopdarshan is the truest voice of Indian basketball, and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything basketball related we love, from the NBA to international hoops, too. On every episode of Hoopdarshan, we will be inviting a special guest to interview or chat to about a variety of topics. With expert insight from some of the brightest and most-involved people in the world of Indian basketball, we hope to bring this conversation to a many more interested fans, players, and followers of the game.

Make sure to follow Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud or search for 'Hoopdarshan' on the iTunes Store! Auto-sync Hoopdarshan to your preferred podcast app NOW!

Hoopdarshan can be found on...

• - iTunes: Hoopdarshan 
• - Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud 
• - On Twitter: @Hoopdarshan 
• - Facebook.com/Hoopdarshan 

BFI to launch national 3x3 basketball championships this year

With 3x3 basketball becoming more organised and official across the world, it was only a matter of time before this quickfire format of the game was properly introduced in India’s domestic circuit, too. The announcement came from the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) – India’s governing body of basketball – at the National Basketball Championship in Ludhiana (Punjab). The BFI held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) during the largest domestic hoops event in the country, in which CEO Roopam Sharma announced that national level 3x3 basketball championships will be added to the BFI calendar starting this year both for the seniors and U18 levels in both Men’s and Women’s divisions.

Click here to read full feature

Rimini 2011: New Zealand Boys, Spain Girls win; India finish in bottom half

The biggest stage of the FIBA 3x3 Basketball format, the 1st Youth World Championship (YWC) for U18 Boys & Girls in Rimini, Italy, concluded on Sunday, September 11th, with New Zealand Boys & Spain Girls being crowned champions. Indian teams, who also took part in the competition, finished in the bottom half of the standings, with the Girls ranking 16th and Boys 29th

In a close final, New Zealand Boys' sneaked past Bulgaria to claim the gold medal at the tournament with a 19-18 win. Bulgaria finished at second place, and hosts Italy received the Bronze medal.

In the Girls' final, Spain were against the host team, Italy, whom they beat in a close game 16-15. Third-place for girls went to Japan.

India's sides didn't have a tournament to remember, but were able to play against teams from all over the world, an experience that the young players are sure to remember forever. In just three days, India's boys played 12 games, against Korea, Puerto Rico, Estonia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Greece, Tunisia, South Africa, Netherlands, and Singapore. The girls played nine games, against varied nations such as USA (twice), Italy, Sweden, Guam, Sri Lanka, China, Angola, and Ukraine.

Pitted in Group A with eight other teams, India’s boys side started their tournament in side, defeating heavily favoured South Korea 17-16. Unfortunately, their luck turned from there onwards, as India lost their next three match-ups, to Puerto Rico, Estonia, and Slovenia. Before the day ended, India found something to cheer when they defeated Sri Lanka for their second win of the group stage.

After starting the second day with a 2-3 record, India's boys needed a few wins on Saturday to climb up into the top four of Group A to be able to qualify for the knockout round. Unfortunately, India lost all three of their group games on Saturay against Ukraine, Greece, and Tunisia, to find themselves finish at seventh place (out of nine) in their group. India had a 2-6 record in the group stage and found themselves out of contention for the qualifying round. On Saturday evening, India played in a classification game against Egypt, but lost it 19-18.

On the final day, India played three classification games: the Boys lost their first game of the day to South Africa, but their resolve improved from then onwards. India defeated the Netherlands, and in their last game, defeated Singapore in classification games to finish at 29th place (out of 36) in the tournament.

India’s girls, who were in Group C with five other teams, played four matches on Friday. India lost their first three games to difficult opponents – USA, hosts Italy, and Sweden – but managed to safe face before the day finished for a big, 22-8 win over Guam.

On Saturday, the Girls won a crucial game against Sri Lanka, 15-13, to finish in the top four (out of six teams) of their group and qualify for the Knockout round of 16. In the knockout-round, India (ranked 16th) played against USA (ranked 1st) for the second time in two days. USA beat India in this game 15-7. India then played in a 9-16 classification game against China, which they also lost, 16-5.

In the last day of the competition, the team lost both of their matches to Angola and to Ukraine, to finish at 16th place (out of 24) in the championship.

Find all the results for India at Rimini 2011 and more recaps on the BFI's official website.

The 3x3 festival was also marked by a number of individual competitions, such as shooting, free throw, skills, and a dunk contest. India's Loveneet Singh finished tied at third place in the shooting competition.

Final Standings

Boys

1. New Zealand

2. Bulgaria

3. Italy

Girls

1. Spain

2. Italy

3. Japan

Individual Competitions Results:

Dunk Contest

1. Dyshwan Pierre (Canada)

2. Dalibor Fait (Czech Republic)

3= Alex Simeonov (Bulgaria)

3= Alexander Birketoft (Denmark)

Boys Shootout

1. Tencho Tenchev (Bulgaria)

2. Jarred Meno (Guam)

3= Rait Laane (Estonia)

3= Loveneet Singh (India)

Girls Shootout

1. Vasiliki Tarla (Greece)

2. Zhanna Byazrova (Russia)

3= Olivia Thompson (Australia)

3= Sanduni Lokuk Perera (Sri Lanka)

Skills Challenge

1. Pelinberya Bilgic (Turkey)

2. Sarka Jozova (Czech Republic)

3= Hong Yang Cui (China)

3= Tangour Nourhaine (Tunisia)

India to take part in FIBA 3x3 Youth World Championship in Italy from Friday

Groups, schedule of games, and other challenges that will take place in the 1st FIBA 3x3 Youth World Championship (YWC) for U18 Boys and Girls in Rimini Italy from September 9-11, 2011, have been announced by FIBA. India have been invited to send teams for both the boys’ and girls’ competitions, which are amongst the 60 total teams taking part in the tournament.

India’s Boys’ side have been placed in Group A, along with Tunisia, Greece, Estonia, Ukraine, Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, South Korea, and Slovenia. The top four teams from the group will advance to the Quarter Final stage of the tournament.

India’s Girls’ side have been placed in Group C, along with Sri Lanka, Sweden, hosts Italy, USA, and Guam. Once again, the top four teams will advance to the Quarter Final stage of the tournament.

Here is the complete list of teams in their assigned groups:

Boys

Group A: Tunisia, India, Greece, Estonia, Ukraine, Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Slovenia
Group B: Austria, Jordan, Serbia, Singapore, Syria, Spain, Qatar, Italy, Egypt
Group C: England, Japan, Canada, Romania, New Zealand, Turkey, Nepal, Latvia, Germany
Group D: Netherlands, Czech Republic, USA, South Africa, Bulgaria, Croatia, Guam, Russia, Denmark

Girls

Group A: Greece, Tunisia, Russia, Australia, Canada, England
Group B: Jordan, Angola, Czech Republic, Turkey, Spain, Netherlands
Group C: Sri Lanka, India, Sweden, Italy, USA, Guam
Group D: Germany, Austria, Japan, Ukraine, China, Syria

Here is India’s schedule of group games:

Boys

Sep 9, 12:00 PM: India vs. South Korea

Sep 9, 1:40 PM: India vs. Puerto Rico

Sep 9, 3:00 PM: India vs. Estonia

Sep 9, 5:40 PM: India vs. Slovenia

Sep 9, 6:20 PM: India vs. Sri Lanka

Sep 10, 12:00 PM: India vs. Ukraine

Sep 10, 1:20 PM: India vs. Greece

Sep 10, 3:30 PM: India vs. Tunisia

Girls

Sep 9, 1:00 PM: India vs. USA

Sep 9, 2:20 PM: India vs. Italy

Sep 9, 3:40 PM: India vs. Sweden

Sep 9, 5:00 PM: India vs. Guam

Sep 10, 1:00 PM: India vs. Sri Lanka

The knockout/classification matches will begin on the evening of Saturday, September 10th. Finals will be held after 6 PM on Sunday, September 11th.

FIBA 3x3 Rules: In this half-court basketball competition, each team will have four players – three starters plus one substitute. Each game will be 10 minutes long, with two halves of five minutes each. A one-minute overtime is held if the score is tied at the end of regulation. The shot-clock is 12 seconds, and the scoring limit is 21 points (that is, the first team to 21 wins). No time-outs are allowed: substitutions are to be made in dead-ball situations.

Outside of the 3x3 tournament, there will be many other tournaments taking place for the players to participate in, including a Free Throw Contest, Shootout Contest, Skills Challenge, and a Dunk Contest.

Here are India U18 basketball teams for the 1st FIBA 3x3 World Championship:

Boys

Kirti Goswami (Madhya Pradesh)

Love Neet Singh (Punjab)

Ajay Pratap Singh (Chhattisgarh)

Sivabalan Gnanasekaran (Tamil Nadu)

Coach: Kulwinder Singh Gill

Girls

Jeena PS (Kerala)

Aishwarya Natarajan (Tamil Nadu)

Amrutha Bhuskute (Maharashtra)

Shireen Limaye (Maharashtra)

Coach: Pete Gaudet

BFI announces U18 boys’ & girls’ teams for 1st FIBA 3x3 Youth World Championship

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) have announced the U18 boys’ and girls’ teams that will represent India at the first-ever FIBA Invitational 3x3 Youth World Championship in the city of Rimini, Italy, from September 9-11, 2011. Teams from India will be amongst 36 boys’ and 24 girls’ teams from around the world taking part in this competition.

3x3 Basketball is the formalised version of three-on-three, half-court basketball. The format got its first major international test at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore. The fast-paced games are played on one half of the FIBA regulation court. Each team contingent will consist of four players, of whom three will be on court at any given time, and one coach.

The Indian U18 girls’ team will be led by Pete Gaudet, the American basketball coach who is also the head coach of India’s Senior Women’s team. U18 Boys will be led by Coach Kulwinder Singh Gill from Madhya Pradesh.

India U18 basketball teams for the 1st FIBA 3x3 World Championship:

Boys

Kirti Goswami (Madhya Pradesh)

Love Neet Singh (Punjab)

Ajay Pratap Singh (Chhattisgarh)

Sivabalan Gnanasekaran (Tamil Nadu)

Coach: Kulwinder Singh Gill

Girls

Jeena PS (Kerala)

Aishwarya Natarajan (Tamil Nadu)

Amrutha Bhuskute (Maharashtra)

Shireen Limaye (Maharashtra)

Coach: Pete Gaudet

Here is the complete list of teams who will be participating in this tournament:

Boys: Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Guam, India, Italy, Jordan, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, South Africa, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Serbia, Spain, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela.

Girls: Angola, Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Germany, Greece, Guam, India, Italy, Japan, Netherland, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela.

India to take part in 3x3 Beach Basketball tournament at 1st South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka

Different twist, same game: if you haven't paid attention to International Beach Basketball yet, it might just be time to start. India will be sending both Men and Women Senior basketball teams to the 1st South Asian Beach Games that will be held in Hanbantota, Sri Lanka, from October 8-16, 2011. India will be amongst eight South Asian countries taking part in the Games, and the 3x3 Beach Basketball tournament will feature four-player contingents sent from India in both the Men’s and the Women’s divisions.

Hosts Sri Lanka will welcome Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan to the 2011 South Asian Beach Games, which will feature competitions in 12 sports: Beach Basketball, Beach Football, Beach Handball, Beach Kabbadi, Beach Netball, Beach Volleyball, Beach Body Building, Equestrian, Life Saving, Sailing, Swimming, and Triathlon.

Beach Basketball is a modified version of basketball which will be played on the sand on a circular court with no backboard on the goal and no out-of-bounds rule. Amongst the several amended rules in this version of the sport, dribbling of the basketball is not allowed and ball movement is to be done via passes or two and half steps. Each team will have three starting players and one substitute.

India will be carrying some modest pedigree into the Beach Basketball format of the game: India’s Men’s team, featuring Pratham Singh, Arjun Singh, Sunil Kumar Rathee, and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, won the gold medal at the 3x3 basketball tournament of the 2008 Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia. India finished at top amongst the eight participating teams, defeating Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines in the final in the process.

Although they didn't share the success of the Men, Indian Women, represented by Lutukurthy Deepa, Smruthi Radhakrishnan, Stephy Nixon, and Kavita helped the team get the bronze medal after finished third out of the five women's teams in the tournament.

Theoretically, India should have an easier time dominating the South Asian rivals than they did against team from the rest of Asia.

Now, on the questionable 'Beach' format though: I have already written about my reservations of the FIBA 3x3 format, but Beach Basketball is different because it represents a fully 'casual' form of the game, instead of a form that is vying for a place in the Olympics (like FIBA 3x3 is). That said, it is still strange to place a game that doesn't involve dribbling and backboards in the 'basketball' category: if anything, Beach Basketball is much closer to Netball, a game that I've never really been a fan of.

But hey, it makes no sense to dribble on sand right? And you won't hear the players complaining about the 'seriousness' of the game when they find themselves enjoying barefoot hoops on the sunny beaches of Sri Lanka.

India’s U18 Boys & Girls to participate in 1st FIBA 3x3 World Championship

FIBA will be hosting the first-ever Invitational 3x3 Youth World Championship in the city of Rimini, Italy, from September 9-11, 2011. The competition will take place simultaneously for U18 boys and girls. Teams from India have been invited to take part in both divisions of this first ever major 3x3 championship amongst the 36 boys’ and 24 girls’ teams from around the world.

Attending teams include many traditional basketball forces of the likes of the USA, Spain, Greece, Serbia, China, Australia, Angola and Puerto Rico, as well countries less renowned for their basketball such as Singapore, South Africa, Syria and even the small pacific island of Guam.

While showcasing top level basketball, the event will have a young and fresh atmosphere - reflecting both the discipline and the location - with top DJs playing music during the games, numerous skills challenges, as well as other entertainment and side activities.

The Invitational 3x3 Youth World Championship will be the second international 3x3 tournament, following last year's success of the discipline at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Boys' participating teams: Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Guam, India, Italy, Jordan, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, South Africa, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Serbia, Spain, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela.

Girls' participating teams: Angola, Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Germany, Greece, Guam, India, Italy, Japan, Netherland, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela.

FIBA intends on subsequently holding this event annually. In years to come, the selection process to determine the participating teams will be done through dedicated qualifiers as well as the 3x3 Individual Ranking.

For more information about 3x3 Basketball, please visit fiba.com/3x3