Serbia will aim to retain their men's title in Nantes ©FIBA

Serbia and the Czech Republic will begin their respective men's and women's title defences at the 2017 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 3x3 World Cup in France tomorrow.

It will be the fourth edition of the event previously known as the FIBA 3x3 World Championships, with previous editions held in Athens in Greece in 2012, Russian capital Moscow in 2014 and Chinese city Guangzhou in 2016.

The World Cup will be the first major 3x3 tournament since the sport became an Olympic event.

It was confirmed last week by the International Olympic Committee that 3x3 will make its Games debut at Tokyo 2020.

Action is due to take place on the Parc des Chantiers in Nantes and conclude next Wednesday (June 21).

Defending men's champions Serbia have been handed a difficult draw alongside 2014 bronze medallists Russia and Puerto Rico, who have enjoyed success on the FIBA 3x3 pro circuit.

Andorra and Egypt have also been drawn in Pool A with just two sides from each group going through to the quarter-finals. 

Hosts France have been handed a difficult task too as they join two previous winners of the FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup, Romania and Slovenia, in Pool B.

The Philippines and debut side El Salvador complete the group.

Pool C will feature 2014 world champions Qatar along with Sri Lanka, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine.

Last year's World Cup silver medallists, the United States, will meet 2016 Europe Cup bronze medallists The Netherlands, Indonesia, South Korea and New Zealand in Pool D.

In the women's tournament, reigning world champions Czech Republic will go up against Argentina, Italy and newcomers Bahrain and Cameroon in Pool D. 

As with the men's tournament, the last two winners of the FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup will meet in the pool stages.

Hungary, the champions in 2016, and Russia, who won the title in 2014, will be the heavy favourites in Pool A which also consists of Germany, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The French hosts also face a challenging task to reach the quarter-finals.

They will compete against Spain and 2016 FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup semi-finalists Switzerland, as well as Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Pool C features last year's silver medallists, Ukraine, who will play against Australia, China, Japan and The Netherlands, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals last year.

The top-two teams from each pool will advance to the quarter-finals.