PLAYING AT 3x3 WORLD CUP IS A ‘DREAM COME TRUE’

 Just four months ago the sport of 3x3 basketball was not even officially recognised in Jordan, so when the nation’s U18 team steps foot on the courts at the World Championships tomorrow (Wednesday) it will mark a remarkable rise for the sport here.

So it is not surprising that it has been called a “dream come true” by the team that will take on Belgium, Romania, Uganda and Indonesia over the coming days in Chengdu, China.

“We still need to pinch ourselves to know it is actually happening because it is a dream come true to be here,” the team said in a joint statement.

“It has been a crazy time for us as we only found out late last week that we would be competing when Kyrgyzstan sadly had to withdraw.

“But we have trained now for a couple of days to acclimatize and while we appreciate that we will be the underdogs, we will give it our best shot and hopefully our appearance here will further the sport back home in Jordan.”

The sport’s reemergence in Jordan after an absence of several years has been aided by a temporary committee set-up under the umbrella of the Jordan Olympic Committee and in close coordination with the Jordan Basketball Federation.

The new committee has been working closely with international federation FIBA to ensure that it is being developed on the right track following the news that 3x3 will be included in the next Olympic programme in 2020.

“These are really exciting times for the sport,” they statement added.

“3x3 is booming worldwide and the recent tournaments in Jordan show that there is a big demand for it.

The standard is improving and the experience that we gain at the World Championships this week will undoubtedly help us to improve further.”

On Wednesday, Jordan will start their campaign against fourth seeds Romania and then face Belgium, who are seeded 12, on the same day.

They will then have a rest day before meeting Indonesia, seeded 11, and bottom seeds Uganda on Friday. Jordan have been seeded 18.

The top two from each of the four groups will advance to the quarter-finals.

The four players making up Team Jordan are Mohammed Abu Quora, Abdullah Al Sawalhi, Sharif Al Sughair and Zeid Bukhari.