As per the latest development, Bengaluru will host the Olympics 3 x 3 qualifiers. The city has previously hosted successful editions of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup and now bracing itself for this big event. 40 teams – 20 for each gender – will participate in the qualifying tournament for basketball from March 18 to 22. The tournament will be jointly organised by FIBA, the sport’s apex body, and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).

Govindaraj Kempareddy, the president of the BFI, welcomed the return of international basketball to the city.

“We are excited to welcome teams from 36 different countries to Bengaluru, a city which has played host to successful FIBA competitions in recent history,” President of the BFI, Govindaraj Kempareddy, said as per several media reports.

This is the first time we will see 3×3 at the Olympics. Sixteen teams – eight from each gender – will be fighting for a medal in Tokyo. India’s are categorised in Pool D alongside Latvia, Canada, the Netherlands and Croatia, while the women’s team will share the group with Spain, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei and Italy.

The top two from each of the four pools will play knockout stages of the competition.

The largest urban team sport in the world, 3×3, as the name suggests, is a form of the game played three a side on one basketball hoop. This format has long been played on the streets and gyms across the world, especially in the US, but became standardized only recently.

The NBA embraced 3×3 in 2016, when it held a series of tournaments known as “Dew NBA 3X”, for local amateur players in the US. Lucrative prize money is awarded to the winners.