SINGAPORE: Singapore’s men’s basketball team will play against Japan in the quarterfinals of the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup, making another impressive tournament performance. In 2023, Singapore also reached the quarterfinals in the same event.
In their previous match over Hong Kong, China, the host country won with a final scoreline of 21-16. However, they were defeated by top-seeded Magnolia with scores of 22-10.
With this, Haribon Espinosa from the Singapore men’s team expressed, “It was a tough loss, but we still have high hopes, and we’re still in high spirits. Mongolia is a tough team, a really experienced team. We’re undersized, but our effort will always be there. That’s the thing, so whichever team we face in the quarter-finals, I think we’ll have a fighting chance because of our effort. We just have to tidy a few things offensively.
My teammates always give me the confidence to shoot. So they always tell me that whenever I’m open, whenever I feel like taking the shot, I should take it. I got that shot (the winning 2-pointer against Hong Kong) because of my teammates because they always gIve me the confidence to shoot. After this, we’re going to have a team meeting, get some food, go straight to sleep, and then get back tomorrow.”
Despite the loss to Mongolia, Singapore placed second in Pool A due to Hong Kong’s 22-8 defeat to Mongolia. With this, Singapore will now face Pool C’s leading group, Japan, who defeated defending champions Australia.
John Charles Dillon Smith from the Australia men’s team admitted, “We’re disappointed because the plan was to win the first two games. Japan played an awesome game, so it’s credit to them. But for us, it’s the same message. We still have to win three games tomorrow to be the tournament champions and win a gold. It just depends on the teams we play, but we’re still ready. There’s no question [that] there’s a lot of areas for improvement for us. We know we can be one of the best teams in the world if we put it all together. So any time we lose, it’s an underperformance, and we have to re-evaluate.”
More so, Ryo Ozawa from the Japan men’s team stated: “We knew that the Australian team is pretty good so we were focused on what we needed to do, and we did it for this game. We didn’t do anything special (in training), but during our training camp before the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup and also during this event, we had a lot of communication, so that was probably the key to the game. For the first game (against Iran), we just shot the ball in. For the second game, we knew that Australia would be trying to stop me, so we kind of worked on what they were going to do. We kind of knew what they were going to do, so we adjusted to that.”
Moreover, in the women’s tournament, defending champions Australia remained in control, winning their games against the Philippines and Indonesia. The country is still undefeated as it prepares for its quarterfinal match with Thailand.
Anneli Maley from the Australia women’s team remarked: “It was a really fun game. Tomorrow, we’re just going to come out and play Australian basketball. We have great team chemistry, and it’s all about sharing the ball, getting the right shot at the right time and playing hard. We love coming to Singapore; we love the community and the fans, so it’s always a special time to come out here and play a good brand of basketball.”
Here is the schedule of matches for the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2025 quarterfinals:
| Men |
Women |
| Mongolia VS Australia
New Zealand VS India China VS Qatar Japan VS Singapore | China VS Vietnam
Australia VS Thailand Mongolia VS Philippines Japan VS Republic of Korea |
All about the 2025 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup
The 2025 FIBA 3×3 Cup is currently the eighth edition of the tournament and the fourth consecutive year that Singapore is the host country.
In 2022, FIBA and Sport Singapore agreed to collaborate for a three-year partnership for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 events. This is organised by Kallang Alive Sport Management and is supported by Sports Singapore and the Basketball Association of Singapore. It is also sponsored by AirAsia and PARKROYAL on Beach Road.
3×3 basketball, which is inspired by the global streetball styles, is the world’s top urban team sport. This is played with two teams of three players facing off on a half-basketball court.