Basketball 3x3 teams to defend title

The Fiji men’s and women’s under 23 3x3 basketball team are ready to defend their title at the FIBA Youth Nations League in Noumea, New Caledonia.

The competition will be from June 11-17.

Speaking to SUNsports yesterday, head coach Earl Hughes said their preparations are on track and the competition will be tough.

“We are the defending champions of this competition both man and women’s and the players will look to absorb all the pressure to perform at their best,” Hughes said.

“The preparation has been good. We have had a good group of players in the extended training squad that have shown good potential. The final selected players have all arrived in Fiji and we will hold a training camp like session this week to help all players gel together.”

He said a key area they will focus on for this week’s preparations is their depth of their experience in the sport.

“Some key areas that we will focus on this week is making adjustments to the offense and allowing the team mates to blend better with each other by playing to the strength of the experience players in the squad,” he said.

Hughes said their team’s main goal for this year’s Youth Nations League is to defend both their titles.

“We have an objective to win the competition as this will set us up to qualify for the U23 world cup in Wuhan, China from September 15th – 19th 2026,” he said.

He also had encouraged fans and supporters to support the team to Noumea, New Caledonia.

“Support this team of youth players as they are playing not only for each other, but for basketball in Fiji as a whole. We need their support to allow the 3x3 format growth to be sustainable,” he said.

The team will be leave on June 10.