The Yoyogi Crayon.exe 3x3 squad is seen during a training session yesterday in this photo shared on the team's Twitter handle @crayon3x3 yesterday. Yoyogi Crayon.exe is one of the 14 teams featuring in this week’s FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters leg in Doha.
Doha: After the overwhelming success of last year’s edition in Katara, the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters returns to Doha once again, thanks to the efforts of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF).
This year the Al Gharafa Beach Games Area - situated next to QBF headquarters - will be the venue of the event to be held tomorrow and on Saturday.
The $105,000 tournament will start tomorrow (Friday) at 3:00pm.
The thrilling dunk contest will start on Saturday at 7.50pm, organisers confirmed yesterday.
For the first time ever the spectators will have an opportunity to be the fourth judge in the slam dunk competition.
Fourteen teams including two from the US and one from the host country Qatar will compete for top honours.
Yesterday the organizers of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters held the official press conference with the presence of Ali Al Malki, Secretary General of QBF and Ignacio Soriano, FIBA 3x3 Head of Events & Partnership.
Ali Al Malki, Secretary General of QBF, said yesterday: “We are delighted to welcome everyone today in our home. We are excited to host FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters once again in Doha. We had to wait several months for this great sporting event to return to Qatar because of the world pandemic.”
He added: “Qatar Basketball Federation is a firm supporter of 3x3 and with the assistance of Qatar Olympic Committee, we made all the necessary preparations, we respected all the rules imposed by the Ministry of Health and the time has finally come. We are now ready to host the best teams in the world, to enjoy basketball and to welcome back the devoted fans of 3x3.
“The next coming months are very important in Qatar’s efforts to qualify a team on 3x3 at the Tokyo Olympic Games and we will do our very best. Today begins an exciting period for Qatar Basketball starting with the 3x3 and we continue next week with the Asian Cup qualifying tournament for our national team. Qatar Basketball Federation is organizing two “bubbles” in a short amount of time and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone at QBF for their efforts. Thank you for your presence today and we expect to welcome you here on Friday,” Al Malki said, Ignacio Soriano, FIBA 3x3 Head of Events & Partnership, said yesterday: “As you all know the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters series was going to start on April here from Doha. We are now finally here in November in the middle of the Corona crisis. The upcoming tournament will be the 4th World Masters following those in Hungary. We are happy to be here. We complied and we follow all the protocols and measures under the instructions of the Ministry of Health.”
Soriano added: “We would like to thank the Secretary General Mr. Ali Al Malki, Qatar Basketball Federation, Qatar Olympic Committee and all the authorities for their contribution in hosting this event again. Fourteen teams from all over the world, including two from the United States (New York and Princeton) have travelled to compete here. We expect a great tournament with $105,000 in prize money to be divided across the top five teams. The tournament will be streamed live in 100 countries.”
“We see Qatar as a solid partner for 3x3 and our association dates back to 2013. We have contract for one more year with another tournament in 2021. We know that Qatar Basketball Federation and the Qatar Olympic Committee have great plans for 3x3 in the country. Let’s not forget that Qatar will participate in the Olympic Qualification tournament in Austria next year. Qatar has Olympic aspirations for 3x3,” Soriano said.
On the occasion QBF presented the agreements with the official sponsors of the event: Ultra Sports, McDonald’s and Qabayan Radio 94.3.
Ali Chakaron, General Manager of Ultra Sports, said yesterday: “We are the official partner of Qatar Basketball Federation for the last five years. It is not our first time we organize the 3x3 tournament with QBF. We usually support providing every equipment. We are so delighted that Qatar is doing this 3x3 tournament. We wish the organizers the best of luck.”
Mithqual Abunasser, General Manager McDonald’s Qatar, said yesterday: “It is our great pleasure to be part of this event, another step in our partnership with Qatar Basketball Federation which we want to improve even more. We wish everybody all the success in this hugely popular tournament. Qatar’s actions to maintain the control of this unprecedented situation have been truly phenomenal. We are sure that we will have a good tournament.”
Lenelio Morga, Managing Director Qabayan Radio 94.3, said yesterday: “On behalf of the only Philippines Radio Station in Doha we would like to thank Qatar Basketball Federation for choosing us to work with them on this international event. We hope for more collaborations between the two sides in the future.”
