KAMPALA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Uganda is gearing up for the Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA) 3X3 Basketball World Cup scheduled for June 28-July 2 this year in Chengdu, China.
Ambrose Tashobya, president of the Federation of Uganda Basketball Association told Xinhua in an interview on Monday that Uganda was invited because of its development of basketball among the youth.
Uganda will be the only men's team representing Africa, while Egypt will be the only African women's team to the event. It was only Uganda and Egypt that were invited because they showed interest in the event.
The 3x3 basketball is a new initiative by FIBA to help make basketball a more versatile sport. The debut FIBA 3x3 World Championship was held in August 2012 in Athens, Greece.
The 3x3 basketball has each team consisting of three players and one substitute. The game is played on a half-basketball court and with one basket.
Uganda is drawn in Group D with Romania, Indonesia, Belgium and Kyrgyzstan. There are 20 men's teams and 20 women's teams in the tournament. In each of the eight pools of five, the top two teams will advance to a standard knockout round at the quarter finals.
Uganda, Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan are new comers and will have to bring in their best in the championship.
The selection of teams was by special invite by FIBA. Uganda's Under 18 team ranked ninth in the FIBA under 18 African championship held in 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda.
