UB hosts FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup for the first time

The Mongol Messenger
munkhzul@montsame.gov.mn
2019-06-21 14:48:11

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup kicked off at the Sukhbaatar Square on June 3. Recognized as an Olympic sport, it is the first time for the 3x3 Basketball World Cup to be organized in Mongolia. The tournament was being organized under the auspices of Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh in the capital city.



PM U.Khurelsukh participated in the opening ceremony of the 3x3 U18 World Cup and gave a speech, “I express my gratitude to the International Basketball Association (FIBA) for giving the right to organize the World Cup in Mongolia as well as the Mongolian 3x3 Basketball Association for receiving the tournament in our country. The FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup is being broadcast live to over 160 countries in the world. I wish good luck to the teams of 34 countries that are participating.” A total of 40 teams--20 men’s teams and 20 women’s teams of 34 countries competed in the U18 World Cup.


The men’s national team was put into Pool C with the teams of U.S, Latvia, Georgia, and Belarus, while the women’s team was in the same pool as the teams of France, Netherlands, the Philippines and the Czech Republic.


While the 3x3 basketball began to be a part of the FIBA events and tournaments since 2011, it was recognized as an Olympic sport in 2017, with qualification tournaments for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games taking place since 2019.



Representatives led by FIBA 3x3 Managing Director Alex Sanchez and FIBA 3x3 Development Manager Robert Rieblenger, President of the Mongolian 3x3 Basketball Association L.Myagmarjav as well as representatives of the tournament sponsors, MCS Group and MCS Coca Cola Co. Ltd attended the opening ceremony.


Winning their matches against Latvia 20-16 and Belarus by 21-15 respectively, the men’s team started off their first day of the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup undefeated. In their next matches, the national team was faced off against the teams of Georgia and the US.



As for their first match against Georgia, they came out victorious, making it their third win of the tournament with 18-16. In their last match of the group stage, they lost against the team of U.S with the score of 21-10. However, as they already had 3 wins on their belt, they qualified for the quarterfinals onto the elimination round.


On the next day, they faced off against the team of Turkey in the elimination round. Consistently being neck-to-neck throughout the match, the players of both teams made shots at the basket. However, as the clock got closer to the 10 minute mark, the team of Turkey was able to make a few game saving three-pointers, winning the match against the national team of Mongolia by 17-14.




The men’s national team consisted of A.Batkhuyag, L.Avirmed, U.Perenleijamts and Sh.Enkhiin-Od. Perenleijamts is the son of renowned wrestler Wide Giant G.Usukhbayar, and Enkhiin-Od is the son of renowned basketball player, State Honored Athlete Ts.Sharavjamts.