Mexico aim to cross borders with 3x3 Basketball

MEXICO CITY (Mexico) – Mexico come back to the courts in international 3x3 basketball competitions after a great start this year and looking forward to their next objective: the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

3x3 has been growing around the world, creating new opportunities to play basketball easier, where a court isn’t necessarily needed, which is why this discipline is growing exponentially throughout the globe. The Aztec city is no exception.

The first challenge will be the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from June 3 to 7. The women's Mexican national team is getting ready to be one of the two representatives of the Americas, with the United States, in what will be the first time that the nation competes in this discipline in the women's category.

Martha Tapia, Karina Esquer (Sonora), Estefanía Ortiz and Irene Plascencia (Aguascalientes) will represent Mexico in the international event. The women will be in Pool A with China, Ukraine, Egypt and Sri Lanka, where they’ll try to be one of the best two qualified teams to move on to the Quarter Finals.

With the support of the Mexican Basketball Sports Association (ADEMEBA, for its Spanish acronym) and led by their motto “All for Mexico, Basketball Unites Us,” the 3x3 national team members traveled to Mexico City for the practices before the World Cup. There, they concentrated in the National High-Performance Center (CENAR, for its Spanish acronym) for three days, and on Thursday, May 30, they left for Ulaanbaatar, where the U18 World Cup will take place. This is the most long-standing FIBA 3x3 tournament, having been played for the first time in 2011.

“3x3 totally changed the way we play. I've always been proud of representing my country. It's a very big responsibility and it’ll be an even bigger one in this tournament where only two countries of the Americas are playing. I felt encouraged and happy to be part of the team that managed to give Mexico a ticket to the World Cup. Besides, this qualification is important for women, because we've taken up a national and international space in Sonora that didn't exist before,” said Tapia to FIBA.basketball.

Both Tapia and Esquer were part of the team in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, and later in the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“3x3 in Mexico is evolving very efficiently and, in the long run, there's going to be more tournaments and people that want to play. I've undergone a great evolution in how I play. It's faster, stronger, and has more energy. It's the discipline of the future. I'm very proud of being able to participate in events of this level. I feel ready and with the energy needed to play a great role in the World Cup. It was very exciting to know that we had qualified to the World Cup because of our effort. It was very nice because it was the result of our teamwork,” added Esquer.

In the days before the 3x3 World Cup, and with ADEMEBA's organization, there were games played in the Sükhbaatar Square in the city center, in front of the Government Palace, where a statue of one of Mongolia’s revolutionary leaders, Damdin Sükhbaatar, is located.

“It was a very competitive process where many very talented players were included. We're quite satisfied with the process we lived and how the national team was built,” added Estefanía Ortiz.

“3x3 is quite a complete discipline. In the World Cup we’ll need to be strong, fast and agile. We've learned that communication and confidence are essential among us to be able to represent Mexico,” added Irene Plascencia.

In June 9, 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that 3x3 Basketball would be a part of the schedule of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, giving a response to FIBA's long-lasting work to take this urban modality to the highest place and allow participants to reach their dreams. That’s how Mexico were encouraged to give more participation to the 3x3 in their nation. With a total of 140 tournaments, where each zone organizes competitions in the U-15, U-18, U-23 and open categories. Already in 2019 there’s a 3x3 Mexican Basketball Circuit as part of Mexico's attempt to qualify men and women in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

At the most recent edition of the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, the women’s team were fifth and the men’s team were fourth, so both qualified to the next 2019 Pan American Games in Lima.

Eight men's and eight women's teams will compete in the 3x3 tournament of the Tokyo 2020 Games. Now, Mexico are getting ready and working hard to get one of these spots.

“FIBA realized that a lot of Mexico’s population practices basketball. There are more courts for this high-speed sport than for football (soccer). It’s an international explosion,” said Melchor Maciel Magaña, ADEMEBA Commissioner for the 3x3 modality to Mexican news outlet Notimex.

Mexico played at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the women are now getting ready for the U18 World Cup in Mongolia, in an attempt to take the nation to the discipline’s highest stage and continue to prepare to try to reach their next objective —Tokyo 2020.

FIBA