The Gangurrus have named their respective teams ahead of the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup in Singapore where over 43 teams representing more than 20 countries will compete from March 27-31.
Our Women’s team will look to repeat their Gold Medal-winning performance last year with all four women back for 2024.
Anneli Maley, Lauren Mansfield, Alex Wilson, and Marena Whittle return after their success together last year which saw Whittle named MVP of the Women’s tournament.
Mansfield says having the same group will on help continue to build chemistry.
“It’s definitely an advantage, we know each other well and work well together.”
“We still have so many things we can improve on and Asia Cup is a great chance to do so against some quality opponents.”
“Any time we can get together on the court is so critical for not only this but in preparation for trying to qualify for the Olympics.”
The women will be in a pool with New Zealand and the successful qualifier out of India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China & Northern Mariana Island.
Women’s coach Damon Lowery says that continuity in the team will play a key part in the team's success.
“The same four players are back to defend our title, the successful countries have little to no changes, and with our girls playing WNBL and overseas we play the least amount of 3x3 so anytime we can achieve that continuity is great," said Lowery.
“The Asia Cup will double as prep for the Olympic Qualifiers in May and we will also play practice games beforehand which will provide us with more prep.”
For the men’s side, Todd Blanchfield will lead the way after his silver medal in 2023. Illawarra Hawks’ Will Hickey, Centre of Excellence’s James O’Donnell, and Josh Davey have been selected for the team.
Hickey says this is a monumental personal achievement.
“I am really looking forward to the whole experience, just being in the position I’ve been questioning if I am good enough or not, to get this recognition to play on this stage is hard to put into words.”
“I hate losing, but as long at the team is doing well and I’m contributing in one way or another I believe the results will follow.”
The men will need to get past Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tahiti to get into the draw.
There will also be an extended squad for the pre–Asia Cup friendlies with Amy Atwell, Miela Goodchild, Lara McSpadden, and Emma Clarke joining the squad.
Atwell eagerly anticipates the upcoming experience where she will get to build on her skills at the 3x3 level as they face Germany, Japan and Singapore.
“I am super excited to get into camp, it’s an awesome opportunity for me to play against some really good competition and to gain experience at the 3x3 level.”
“It will also be great to try and expand my game in an elite environment.”
All games will be live-streamed via FIBA YouTube.
