By Gary Anderson

March 18 - Rio de Janeiro will host a 3x3 World Tour Masters event in September this year ©FIBAThis year's 3x3 World Tour will include visits to Olympic host cities Beijing, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, it has been revealed in the schedule published by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). 

The third edition of the World Tour will see stop offs in seven cities, beginning with the Manila Masters in the Philippines on July 19 and 20, and run through until the World Tour Final, set for Tokyo on October 11 and 12.

In between those stops the Tour is due to visit Beijing on August 2 and 3, Chicago on August 15 and 16, Prague on August 23 and 24, Lausanne on August 29 and 30, before its final regular season leg in Rio on September 27 and 28.

Manila, Beijing and Chicago will be making their debuts as hosts on the World Tour as this year sees an extra masters tournament added to the five in the 2012 and 2013 editions.

Miami hosted the inaugural World Tour Final in 2012, where Team San Juan from Puerto Rico emerged victorious, while last year's Final was staged in Istanbul and saw Brezovica from Slovenia claim the title.

The standard format for each FIBA 3x3 World Tour masters and the final sees 12 teams divided into four groups of three teams playing in a round-robin first round stage.

The top-two placed teams from each group advance to a standard knockout round which starts at the quarter-finals stage.

A number of World Tour Qualifier tournaments around the world will take place to decide the teams that will advance to each of the masters events, where the top two teams will then go on to contest the Tokyo Final.

A dunk contest and the Samsung shoot-out contest will take place at each World Tour event.

Team Brezovica of Slovenia won the 3x3 World Tour title in Istanbul last year ©FIBATeam Brezovica of Slovenia won the 3x3 World Tour title in Istanbul last year ©FIBA



"It is already chapter three for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour and after two successful editions, FIBA will bring the event to the next level in 2014," said FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann.

"The World Tour has produced some breath-taking games both for the players and the 250,000 spectators who came to support them all around the world last year.

"Our concept of an elite 3x3 basketball event and urban festival has conquered many new organisers and this led us to increase the number of Masters from five to six this season.

"We are glad to return to Prague, Lausanne, Rio and Tokyo and are looking forward to making our first visit to Manila, Beijing and Chicago, three international cities that share the same unlimited passion for basketball.

"The growth of the World Tour reflects the ever-rising popularity of 3x3, which many people from our sport and beyond still hope will become an Olympic discipline.

"In the meantime, 3x3 will be featured again this year at the Youth Olympic Games."

3x3 basketball sees two teams of three players compete on half of a standard basketball court which is set in an outdoor city setting.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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