Singapore’s 3×3 basketball season reached another milestone in August, with four consecutive days of international competition at *SCAPE bringing some of the world’s leading men’s and women’s teams to the country.
The FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series made its Singapore debut on 13 and 14 August, before the FIBA 3×3 Singapore Challenger took over the court for the following two days. Together, the two tournaments drew more than 4,500 fans.
The August double-header was the latest chapter in an increasingly busy year for the national 3×3 programme, giving Singapore’s players another opportunity to test themselves against international opposition on home soil. It also offered a glimpse of what is to come as Singapore prepares to host the FIBA 3×3 World Cup in 2027.
A first for the women
The arrival of the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series was particularly significant.
The competition is the premier international circuit for professional women’s 3×3 basketball, and its first Singapore stop featured 16 teams from 13 countries. Singapore fielded two teams, including a national side made up of Lydia Ang, Han Xingyue, Jermaine Lim and Matilda Lai.
Singapore drew a difficult draw against China and eventual champions Netherlands U25. They fell 15-8 to China in their opener before producing an improved attacking performance against the Dutch, scoring 14 points in a 21-14 defeat. Lim led Singapore with five points, while Lai and Ang contributed four each.
Nevertheless, the Singapore players still took plenty away from competing at this level.
“I think the coaches are pretty happy with what we did today because, previously, our biggest problem was trying to execute whatever they tell us right before the game,” said Lim.
“Hopefully, we can keep this up – absorbing information, maintaining momentum and pushing ourselves to our best – for the remaining two games this season.”
Netherlands U25 ultimately completed an unbeaten tournament, defeating Slovenia 16-14 in overtime in the final. Quinta van Schijndel delivered the championship-winning two-pointer, having also scored an overtime winner against China earlier in the competition.
Singapore men come agonisingly close
Attention then shifted to the men and the FIBA 3×3 Singapore Challenger.
The tournament was Singapore’s second Challenger of the year following June’s Lion City Challenger, and featured 16 teams from 15 countries, with places on the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Malaga at stake.
Singapore were represented by Zhenyu Ching, Xu Duanyang, Nur Aufa Emil and Mohamed Zahid.
Their opening game ended in a 22-10 defeat to Amsterdam RABOBANK, leaving Singapore needing a victory over Bahrain’s Seef to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
What followed was one of the closest contests of the weekend. Led by captain Aufa, Singapore built a four-point advantage and remained ahead entering the closing stages, only for Seef to fight back and claim a 17-16 victory.
“The second game was much better. We had a four-point lead, so to blow it wasn’t good, but we did much better than the first game,” said Aufa.
“There was much smoother movement, much better defence. We just need to put a lot more thought into the game now. One of the things to improve on is the mental focus – being able to stay mentally ready one hundred per cent no matter how tired we are.”
For Aufa, however, playing these games in Singapore is an important part of the team’s development.
“It’s quite a big opportunity. A lot of people got to experience high-level basketball, not only the players but the fans as well. They get to see the kind of competition we are playing against and that these are top-ranked players.
“It’s exciting, and hopefully we can have more of this in Singapore. We look forward to playing like this again.”
Toulouse claimed the inaugural Singapore Challenger title. The French side went unbeaten throughout the tournament, defeating Caloocan in the quarter-finals and Amsterdam RABOBANK in the semi-finals before overcoming China’s Hangzhou Jingwei 21-12 in the championship game.
A growing international calendar
The August double-header forms part of an expanded multi-year partnership between Sport Singapore and FIBA, which will see Singapore host two FIBA 3×3 Challenger events and one FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series stop annually through 2031. The FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup will also return to Singapore from 2028 for four years.
Before then, attention will turn to the FIBA 3×3 World Cup 2027. Singapore will host the competition next June, marking the first time the 3×3 World Cup will be staged in Southeast Asia. The seven-day tournament is expected to feature 40 of the world’s leading men’s and women’s teams.
