Birmingham 2022 has released the full schedule for the Basketball 3×3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3×3 tournament with eight menโs teams and eight womenโs teams playing the running version of the game and six menโs and six womenโs teams taking part in the inaugural Commonwealth Games Wheelchair Basketball 3×3 tournament.
The group matches begin on Friday 29 July with the Canadian menโs team taking on Kenya in the opening game, followed by Australia against Scotland in the womenโs competition. Both of the host nations Wheelchair Basketball 3×3 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 womenโs wheelchair team up against Australia.
In the first session of day two, three England teams will be in action with the menโs and womenโs running basketball teams taking on New Zealand and the menโs Wheelchair Basketball 3×3 team taking on Malaysia.
Itโs the Australian teamโs turn for a busy session on day three, as in the evening session both wheelchair teams will be in action, followed by the menโs 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.ย 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 3×3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3×3 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:
โWith basketball 3×3 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 3×3 too.
โIโm 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, Iโm sure Smithfield will become a key location during the Games.โ
Tickets for the Basketball 3×3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3×3 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 ยฃ15 for adults and ยฃ8 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 3×3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3×3 schedule is as follows:
