In October, Macau will see a large-scale basketball event added to the local annual calendar of major sports events, organizers announced at a press conference yesterday.
The FIBA 3×3 Macao Masters – Wynn Cup Greater Bay Area (GBA) Qualifying Tournament will take place in Macau between October 4 and 10. As the name states, the tournament will select one GBA team to proceed to the FIBA 3×3 Macao Masters: a major international event to be held at a subsequent date which has not been confirmed as yet.
As the president of Sports Bureau (ID), Pun Weng Kun, mentioned in his opening speech and also remarked on the sidelines of the press conference, the event aims to elevate the level of 3×3 basketball in Macau as well as to showcase and promote the sports exchange between the different GBA cities.
After the press conference, Pun said, “We are very happy that we have the sponsorship of Wynn so we can carry this event in Macau.” “This is a 3×3 tournament at a very high level and we are pleased that although we are still in a pandemic period, Macau can still organize events of this level and size. This means that we are doing a great job on controlling the epidemic,” he added.
Pun added that sports events are a great platform not only for showcasing the sport itself but also the local economy and tourism. “We hope that through the organization of this type of events, we can also disclose the local sports industry,” he added.
The event will be hosted in four different outdoor venues, where basketball courts will be constructed as well as the audience stands. The four venues are: the square in front of the A-Ma Temple, the Nam Van Nautical Center area, Tap Seac Square, and the lawn area outside of the Wynn Palace resort in Cotai.
Speaking on the choice of these locations, the ID president said, “We chose these places because they are points of attraction for people and tourists and we hope that people, when they visit Macau, can both attend the matches, and also travel around and know Macau and its monuments. In the future, we will continue to study to see if other outdoor areas can be adapted so we can use them for this kind of event”.
Up to 250 teams, MOP200,000 prize money
The tournament rules highlight that a maximum of 250 teams composed of three field players plus one substitute can participate in it.
At least one of the team members must possess an identification document of residency in one of the cities composing the GBA.
The competition is organized in groups that will play in a round-robin tournament system. After that, the two leading teams in each group will qualify for the elimination stage until the final stage where the four top teams will be determined.
The winning team will receive 100,000 patacas prize money, while second, third and fourth will get 50,000, 30,000, and 20,000 patacas respectively.
Registration will be open from August 16 to September 4. The lucky draw deciding the tournament groups will be held on September 20.
To register, a team must first register an account on the website (play.fiba3x3.com).
The 3×3 basketball
With roots in street basketball, a 3×3 basketball match is played on a half-court only, with just one basket, and two teams of three players each.
According to the official rules established by the governing body of international basketball (FIBA), the games have a maximum duration of 10 minutes, but may end sooner if one of the teams reaches 21 points.
The point-counting system is also different from a full-court game with reduced points.
Any shot scored anywhere inside the “three-point arch” counts as one point (instead of two in the full-court) and a shot outside the “three-point line” counts as two points.
Olympic debut
At the press conference announcing the event, Alex Sanchez, the managing director of FIBA’s 3×3 Tournaments presented a recorded message about the event in Macau.
In his message, Sanchez noted that 3×3 basketball will be played at the Olympics for the first time at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which will be starting in less than 10 days.
Besides noting the importance of this moment for the sport, Sanchez noted that since the event will take place in October, there is a possibility that some of the teams will include Olympians or even medalists from the summer Olympics, noting that this fact would be an amazing boost for the Macau event.
FIA GT World Cup return pending SSM instructions
The possible return of the FIA GT World Cup to the Macau Grand Prix calendar this year would be welcomed, the Sports Bureau (ID) president, Pun Weng Kun said when questioned on the matter at the sidelines of the press conference announcing the FIBA 3×3 Macao Masters – Wynn Cup Greater Bay Area Qualifying Tournament.
Pun, who is also the soordinator of the Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee (MGPOC), added that this is the desire of all parties, including the local organizers. However, he noted that the imposed condition for the easing of travel restrictions to Macau is beyond the control of the organizing committee.
“The final decision depends on the situation of the [Covid-19] pandemic. We must follow the guidelines from the Health Bureau (SSM),” Pun said adding that the MGPOC will wait until the deadline of August 31 for advice from the SSM on the possibility of hosting the international event.
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