SINGAPORE: The Basketball Association of Singapore have launched a new Singapore National 3×3 League (NXL2024), which will be played over a nine-month period across various CapitaLand Malls.
33 teams and 132 participants took part in the first tour of the inaugural competition, which took place on Feb 17-18 at Sengkang Grand Mall.
The men’s final saw Mettle Hawks piping NTSC1 to a slender 21-20 win, while in the women’s open final, NTSC3 cruised to a 21-11 victory over NTSC4.
Winners in men’s and women’s categories bring home a $1,000 cash prize presented by Leon Neo, CEO of the Basketball Association of Singapore, and product vouchers from the competition sponsors.
“This time, playing here at Sengkang Grand Mall, overall, it was a great experience! The atmosphere was really good with people watching the games. We are very happy to have won and we want to give back to the community that sponsored our team,” expressed Tan Kang Yi from NTSC 3, winner of the women’s open team.
NXL2024 will next travel to Bugis+ on March 2-3 for their second tour, followed by Westgate the following month. The competition will end the first half of the year with a visit to the Sengkang Grand Mall.
From June onwards, basketball enthusiasts will be able to catch the competition at Plaza Singapura, Lot 1 and Bukit Panjang Plaza.
“The 3X3 league, organised by Basketball Association of Singapore, is a springboard for 3×3 competition to grow in Singapore.
We are venturing into the heartland to identify talent and grow the interest of the sport in the community. 3×3 is fast-paced, exciting and its popularity will continue to grow.
We want to establish Singapore’s position in the sport and help our local basketballers flourish,” shared New Wei Sheng, lead organiser of the National 3X3 League.
According to the lead organiser, CapitaLand Mall and the Basketball Association of Singapore have a common goal of promoting sports development in Singapore, especially basketball.
“It was also a desire to bring the sport into the malls to allow the general public to have a close up look at the thrilling action the sport would bring and create more interest in the sport.
That is why we decided to work together to organise this competition,” shared the lead organiser.
The biggest difference is that 3×3 basketball is played on a half-court, and the games are generally shorter and more fast-paced.
This lends itself well to Singapore’s environment, where land is more scarce, and the faster nature of the game is more beneficial to Singapore’s basketball style.
In recent years, more players have progressively transitioned to 3×3 basketball, including several national team athletes.
Five players from the Singapore Slingers squad – Delvin Goh, Lavin Raj, Kelvin Lim, Tay Ding Loon and Xu Duanyang – have also joined the national 3×3 set-up.
For more information, interested teams and players are encouraged to register for the upcoming tour of the NXL 2024 here: NXL Tour 2024 – Stop 2