The more distant and exotic “Asian streetball” sounds to you, the more you should check out the upcoming tournament. These guys really know how to play and put on a show, and we guarantee you’ll have a blast. Don’t let the name fool you—there will also be teams from Australia and New Zealand, and they’ll be among the top contenders.
Teams to watch
As is usual for Asia, it will be a massive tournament—featuring 22 men’s teams and 21 women’s teams. The first two days are the qualifying round for the main tournament; after that, we’re in for a real treat with three days of competition featuring the top 12 teams in both the men’s and women’s categories. We already know the first eight teams in the main phase.
In the men’s competition, they are:
Mongolia
China
Japan
New Zealand
Qatar
Singapore
Australia
Chinese Taipei
The top eight women’s teams are as follows:
China
Mongolia
Japan
Australia
Philippines
Singapore
New Zealand
Thailand
We think the women’s team from Kazakhstan and the men’s teams from Thailand should also make it to the main draw. It’s a real shame we won’t be seeing the Iranian teams, but we all know why that is... We’re always curious to watch the team from the world’s most populous country—India—even though they don’t always play at the highest level.
Players to watch
We’ve selected two gentlemen and two ladies whom everyone would be ashamed not to know.
Ryo Ozawa - a man who has already made history after scoring 20 points in a single game at the same event a year ago:
Dillon Stith - a dominant athlete, playing under and above the rim:
Fuyuko Takahashi - seem to be everywhere on the court, incredibly fast, and giving it her all, usually the crowd’s favourite:
Khulan Onolbaatar - the cutest clutch player in the world:
There is a chance that one of Zhangs will play an important role, too ;)
Historically…
There is only one favorite in both categories - Australia. Check out this all FIBA3x3 AsiaCups in one table:
They won 5 out of 8 tournaments, so statistically there is no other favourite men team, it’s not even close.
The same 5/8 ratio is true in women case:
By the way, FIBA3x3 created nice compilation of best moments in FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup history - definitely worth to read.
But history doesn’t have to repeat itself, does it?
From our perspective it will be extremely tough for both Australian’s teams to win, especially for women team. This year, the Asian Cup may remain on the Asian continent… Let’s see. The show starts April 1st.
Thanks to all readers, especially subscribers, you rock! If you like our work, please share it with your network. You can find us also on X, LinkedIn and our FB group will be happy if you join us, too!
P.S. There is another substack about 3x3 basketball - Bas Rozendaal The Mountain - former player who turned to analyst and commentator and publishes very interesting facts, stats and first-row-view on most important FIBA3x3 events. We love his posts, there is a big chance you will like them, too.