Ulaanbaatar 3x3 Challenger Preview: Can Mongolian teams beat World's best again?

ULAANBAATAR (3x3 Challenger) - 5 Mongolian teams will look to build on the success of Team Ulaanbaatar Garuda as they welcome 5 international teams ranked in the Top 15 in the FIBA 3x3 Team Ranking and other up-and-coming 3x3 squads at the Ulaanbaatar 3x3 Challenger in Mongolia on June 3-4.

Just 5 weeks after Team Ulaanbaatar Garuda became the first-ever Mongolian team to qualify for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour (at the 3x3 Nanjing Challenger), 5 Mongolian teams are looking to make history again during the 4th event of the Challenger season, these standalone tournaments that qualify 2 teams for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour.

Arkhangai, Khovd, South Gobi, Sukhbaatar and Ulaanbaatar Garuda (and all 16 participating teams) will be eyeing the 20,000 USD in prize money and the 2 tickets for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Utsunomiya Masters.

The top 2 teams in the world and eternal rivals Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE, 1) and Ljubljana (SLO, 2) will both compete in the Mongolian capital.

They will be joined by 3 more teams from the Top 15: Amsterdam (NED, 11), Liman (SRB, 13) and São Paulo DC (BRA, 15).

Both Ljubljana and Ulaanbaatar Garuda have already clinched their ticket to the Utsunomiya Masters, meaning that if the teams reach the final of the Ulaanbaatar Challenger, the team ranked third and fourth will fly to Japan on July 29-30.

The event starts at 1pm local time on Saturday (GMT+8) and will be livestreamed. The final is scheduled for 7.30pm local time on Sunday.

Seeding

Pool A: Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE), South Gobi (MGL), Tachikawa (JPN), Monaco (FRA)

Pool B: Ljubljana (SLO), Humpolec (CZE), Ulaanbaatar Garuda (MGL), Arkhangai (MGL)

Pool C: Amsterdam (NED), Malaga (ESP), Sukhbaatar (MGL), Pyongyang (PRK)

Pool D: Liman (SRB), Sao Paulo (BRA), Townsville (AUS), Khovd (MGL)

FIBA