The World’s Best FIBA 3x3 Players Gather in Mongolia

On the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Mongolia hosted three major FIBA 3x3 tournaments at home for the first time, organized under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Mongolia with the support of the Mongolian 3x3 Basketball Federation, MCS Group and MCS Coca-Cola.

The FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League, the FIBA 3x3 Ulaanbaatar World Grand Prix and the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup ran on Sukhbaatar Square from June 1 to June 9.

More than 500 athletes and delegates from 40 of the best teams representing 34 countries took part in the three tournaments. Alex Sanchez, Executive Director for 3x3 at the International Basketball Federation, and Robert Reblinger, Development Manager, attended as special guests.

It is also worth noting that the FIBA media team worked with a professional local crew to broadcast the tournaments live from the central square of Ulaanbaatar to more than 160 countries around the world.

For the first time, Mongolians were able to watch the world’s best FIBA 3x3 players compete at home, right in front of them. The Sprite brand was the first to support 3x3 basketball — then known as street basketball — and has worked with the TLG-13 NGO for 14 years, from 2005 to today, providing continuous support for the development of basketball in Mongolia and investing a total of MNT 3.7 billion in the sport over that period.

During that time an average of more than 10,000 children and young people a year have taken part in the Sprite League and Sprite 3x3 tournaments. The young players who came up through those leagues and tournaments make up today’s Ulaanbaatar Khangarid team, who are proudly carrying Mongolia’s name onto the world stage.

Thanks to the continuous support of MCS Group and MCS Coca-Cola for making Mongolia known to the world through sport, the Mongolian national 3x3 basketball team has qualified for the finals of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup three years running and has won one gold and two silver medals — a fine achievement that makes all of us in Mongolia proud.