MIES (3×3): FIBA on Thursday announced the full schedule for the sixth edition of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour, which will start in Saskatoon, Canada on 15-16 July and culminate with the World Tour Bloomage Beijing Final in the Chinese capital on 21-22 October.
Launched in 2012, the yearly World Tour is the flagship competition of 3×3 basketball. It sees teams representing cities from around the world qualify for seven Masters and a Final through a worldwide network of qualifying tournaments.
Though the overall number of events remains the same in 2017, prize money will be nearly doubled to reach a total amount of half a million USD.
The best 3×3 players in the world return to the streets of Utsunomiya, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Mexico City and Beijing in iconic downtown locations, which include Buddhist shrines, shopping malls and UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The competition makes its inaugural appearance in Chengdu, China and in Canada after Saskatoon announced their support for the team which represented their city at the World Tour since 2013 by hosting a Masters.
The top 12 teams in the World Tour standings after the last Masters – including the winners of each stage – qualify for the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Bloomage Beijing Final, which will be staged in China for the first-time ever.
FIBA 3×3 World Tour 2017 calendar:
15-16 July – Saskatoon, Canada
29-30 July – Utsunomiya, Japan
5-6 August – Prague, Czech Republic
25-26 August – Lausanne, Switzerland
31 August – 1 September – Debrecen, Hungary
23-24 September – Chengdu, China
30 September – 1 October – Mexico City, Mexico
21-22 October – Beijing, China – World Tour Bloomage Beijing Final
Ljubljana (SLO) won the last edition of the World Tour in Abu Dhabi on 27-28 October 2016.
A Dunk Contest and a Shoot-out Contest will take place at each FIBA 3×3 World Tour event.
An initial list of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour 2017 Qualifiers will be available on FIBA.com/3x3WorldTour this week.