Birmingham 2022 has released the full schedule for the Basketball 3x3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3x3 tournament with eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams playing the running version of the game and six men’s and six women’s teams taking part in the inaugural Commonwealth Games Wheelchair Basketball 3x3 tournament.
The group matches begin on Friday 29 July with the Canadian men’s team taking on Kenya in the opening game, followed by Australia against Scotland in the women’s competition. Both of the host nations Wheelchair Basketball 3x3 teams will start their campaigns in the first session, with the men taking on South Africa and the women taking on Kenya.
The second session of the day sees three matches for Scotland with the men taking on Canada, the women taking on Sri Lanka and the women’s wheelchair team up against Australia.
In the first session of day two, three England teams will be in action with the men’s and women’s running basketball teams taking on New Zealand and the men’s Wheelchair Basketball 3x3 team taking on Malaysia.
It’s the Australian team’s turn for a busy session on day three, as in the evening session both wheelchair teams will be in action, followed by the men’s running team who will play England in their final group game.
Following the completion of the group matches on Sunday 31 July, the quarter-finals and semi-finals will take place on Monday 1 August, with the classification and bronze medal matches set to be held on Tuesday 2 August in the afternoon session and gold medal matches taking place in the evening session of the same day.
IWBF President Ulf Mehrens said:
"We are delighted to be working with Commonwealth Sport and Birmingham 2022 to deliver the 3X3 Competition at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth movement has already had a tremendous impact on the level of engagement and development of Wheelchair Basketball, enriched our partnership with FIBA and the schedule promises to deliver some spectacular performances.
Last week, members of the Team England Basketball 3x3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3x3 teams visited the Smithfield site to test out the warm-up court and to get a sneak peek of the main arena where all of the matches will be played, and they were impressed with the facilities."
Matt Kidson, Director of Sport for Birmingham 2022 said:
“With basketball 3x3 included for the first time ever at a Commonwealth Games this will be an historic tournament. I am also delighted that we have extended the para sport programme for this edition of the Games by adding Wheelchair Basketball 3x3 too.
“I’m sure the teams are going to enjoy the venue as it is in the heart of the city centre and with this sport being staged alongside Beach Volleyball and with a Festival Site in the same location too, I’m sure Smithfield will become a key location during the Games.”
Tickets for the Basketball 3x3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3x3 competitions are now extremely hard to come by as this sport has been extremely popular with spectators, however, there are currently still tickets available for Beach Volleyball, the other sport being held on the Smithfield site. Tickets for Birmingham 2022 start at £15 for adults and £8 for under 16s.
Visitors to the Festival Site which is also located at Smithfield will also be able to watch the basketballers warm-up. More information about tickets and the Festival Site is available at birmingham2022.com
The full Basketball 3x3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3x3 schedule is as follows:
Friday 29 July - Group Matches
Saturday 30 July - Group Matches
Sunday 31 July - Group Matches
Monday 1 August
Tuesday 2 August
Photo Credit: Chris Cox – TUBPodcast
