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The Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum will be setting up an exhibition on the evolution of basketball at Katara beach during the FIBA 3x3 All-Stars tournament on Thursday, it was announced yesterday. |
The initiative comes as part of the Qatar Basketball Federation’s efforts to give the game a fillip during the prestigious event which offers a purse of $120,000.
Christian Walker, director of the museum, told reporters at a press conference yesterday that the exhibition was part of the museum’s efforts to support the QBF in its activities.
“Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world. Almost 250mn people worldwide play the sport in some form or the other. It’s an honour for us at the sports museum to look at the history of the sport,” Walker said.
Walker added that the 3x3 tournament was a great opportunity to popularise the sport. “You need just one ball and one basket to play 3x3. It’s a sensational event. It’s also about sports for all.”
Mohamed Ali al-Hobash, secretary general of the QBF, thanked Walker for the museum’s support for the tournament.
“Qatar will be hosting the event for three years. Although the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum is playing its part as a sponsor for this year only as of now, we hope our co-operation continues in the future too,” al-Hobash said.
Meanwhile Qatar basketball ace Yasin Musa said he was looking forward to lead the Doha team in the FIBA 3x3 All-Stars.
“It will be a tough event as our rivals have been playing the 3x3 format for quite a few years now, while we started playing it only two years ago,” Musa said.
“However, we will be putting in our best efforts.”
Musa also added that the last time he played basketball outdoors was when he was a teenager. “I was probably 16 years old then,” he said.
Meanwhile, QBF executive director Sadoun al-Kuwari said preparations have been completed for the tournament.
“We have been having almost daily meetings to review the progress of our preparations and I am happy to say that we are on schedule,” al-Kuwari said.
“Only the finishing touches now remain and we will do it tomorrow (Tuesday).”
The QBF has extended invitations to the top brass of FIBA and the Asian federation to be guests at the tournament. Organisers expect packed crowds to witness some frenetic high-octane action when six of the world’s best teams take to the courts near the Katara amphitheatre to showcase their skills in a fast-developing version of basketball that has taken the world by storm.
The teams taking part are Brezovica (Croatia), Caracas (Venezuela), FC Barcelona (Spain), Nagoya (Japan), Novi Sad (Serbia) and Doha. Doha will be represented by Khalid Suliman Abdi, Mohamed Seleem Abdulla, Yaseen Musa and Boney Watson.
The Doha side will take on Japan’s Nagoya in the first match followed by an encounter against Brezovica of Slovenia.