By Paul Osborne

The inaugaral FIBA 3x3 All Stars event is due to get underway in Doha, Qatar tomorrow ©FIBADecember 11 - The International Basketball Federation's (FIBA) 3x3 All Stars event will get underway in Doha tomorrow as the number one players from across the world prepare to battle for basketball supremacy on the Katara Beach.


The highest ranked player from Europe, the Americas, the Rest of the World, which consists of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, the host nation - Qatar - will play with their respective teams for a share of the $120,000 (£72,000/€91,000) prize pot.

A legends team will make up the final team in the field.

World number one 3x3 player, Dusan Domovic Bulut, will lead his Serbian team Nova Sad as the representatives from Europe.

Ranking points earned from winning the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Prague Masters and finishing runners-up in the Istanbul final have helped the Serbian climb to the top of the individual world rankings and book his and his teams place in this All Star event.

"It was a long and hard job," Balut admitted today.

"We played a lot of tournaments all around the world this year and this is what brought us here."

Venezuelan Michaell Flores secured Team Caracus' place in the event as the number one ranked player in the Americas, with Rest of the World number one Tomoya Ochiai ensuring Japan's Team Nagoya gained a spot.

3x3 basketball has gained enormous popularity since its worldwide competitive debut at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore ©Getty Images3x3 basketball has gained enormous popularity since its worldwide competitive debut at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore ©Getty Images



Winners of the World Tour, Team Brezovica of Slovakia, will be looking to add to a superb season with victory in Qatar.

They qualify on the back of Blaz Cresnar's world number two spot; although a strong outfit sees their other three members make up the top five behind Cresnar and Bulut.

The hosts will be without their number one player Boney Watson who was forced to withdraw from the squad with a knee injury last week.

The team proved confident enough without him as Team Doha beat the sixth and final team of the competition FC Barcelona in an exhibition game on Wednesday.

The FC Barcelona side is made up of former legends from the team, including Manel Bosch, Rodrigo De La Fuente, Roger Esteller and Ferran Martinez.

The action starts  at 15:00 local time with the first game featuring Brezovica against Nagoya on Katara Beach.

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