India to host FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 

India has been chosen as the host of the host of basketball's 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The sport's governing body, FIBA, revealed the decision on Monday, with the games to be hosted in March 2020.

The exact location of the event has yet to be announced.

The discipline, making its debut at the 2020 Olympic Games, will see eight teams in each of the men’s and women’s category battling it out for supremacy in Tokyo, Japan. With three of the eight teams being decided at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the March competition carries immense importance.

The Qualifying Tournament will see 20 teams in each gender category taking to the court to stake their claim for a place at Tokyo 2020.

Indian pedigree

Having successfully hosted a number of Asian competitions in the recent past, the international body was confident in handing India the hosting rights of the first-ever 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

“Following the successful organisation of two consecutive FIBA Women’s Asia Cups in Bangalore by the BFI, we are looking forward to organising now a key 3x3 event in a country where our new Olympic discipline already has a strong fanbase,” the FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said in a statement released by the world body.

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) too was confident of delivering a top-quality event next year. “We have hosted a few Asian competitions in the last four years. Two Women’s Asia Cups and then a few age-group competitions. That has helped us in understanding what goes into delivering a successful competition. And we are sure that we can do a good job with the Olympic Qualifying Tournament as well,” the BFI secretary-general Chander Mukhi Sharma said speaking to the Olympic Channel.