The launch witnessed the presence of Basketball superstars like Satnam Singh, Amjyot Singh and Palpreet Singh Brar
by Suman Gupta
Mumbai, April, 2018: The fastest growing urban team sport in the world, 3×3 Basketball comes to India for the first time with 3BL – 3×3 Pro Basketball League. 3BL is an Intellectual property of YKBK Enterprise that has been granted the exclusive rights contract from FIBA 3×3 for the Indian subcontinent, making it the first ever FIBA recognised basketball league in India.
3×3 Basketball is a 10-minute high speed basketball tournament and it officially became an Olympic sport in June 2017. It will be introduced in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The inaugural season of 3BL in India, featuring 12 teams with international and Indian sensations like Amjyot Singh, Palpreet Singh Brar and international basketball sensations like Bikramjit Gill, Inderbir Singh Gill, Leandro Lima and many more, will be played in six cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Aizawl, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. The winners of the tournament(s) will get to represent India at the FIBA World Tour(s).
Yoshia Kato, Chairman, 3BL, said, “Seeing the performance of Indian origin players in the sport, we decided to start the first ever FIBA 3×3 recognised basketball league in India. We plan to make a serious impact on the growth of this sport in the country.”
“Basketball has a fascinating story in India. Till a few years ago, most people didn’t know anything about 3×3 Basketball and today it poses a serious opportunity” said Rohit Bakshi, League Commissioner, 3BL – 3×3 Pro Basketball League. “Our aim is to create a new fan base for basketball in India by promoting the 3×3 Basketball at a grassroots level and through wider outreach plans for viewers and players both.”
Sudhir Vashist, Chief of Marketing & Business Development, 3BL said, “As the sporting landscape of our country changes and evolves, this short action-packed format will revolutionise basketball in India. It is definitely going to be a very appealing sport for both brands and audiences.”
“This sport is attractive to people since they can watch it in lesser time and still get as much entertainment and action as they do from longer format sports,” said Vivek Krishna, Entertainment Director, 3BL. “3×3 Basketball is a highly engaging form of the beautiful game which will going to charm India, as it has 144 other countries.”
“India being a very young country, with half of its population under 25 years of age, 3×3 Basketball is definitely going to be very appealing for audiences here,” said Mr. Julien Debove 3×3 Senior Comminications Manager, FIBA3x3. “I’m excited to explore the vast land of opportunities that India presents with 3BL.”
The first time ever India will be hosting the World Tour, orgnised and marketed by YKBK Enterprise.
