The euphoria, elation and hope sparked by the first win!

KUALA LUMPUR (Mageshwaran’s AsiaScope) - There are 12 women teams battling it out in Ankara, Turkey to be one of the five to join the already qualified seven at the 2012 London Olympics.

In a matter of days, we’ll know the final line-up for the world sport’s most hallowed platform. But we’ll come to that later.

This week’s story is about teams who will not play in the Olympics now – and not for a long time in the future probably – in the current form of basketball, but make a great advertisement for the introduction of a new form of basketball and therefore expand the base, participation and popularity of the sport and certain core ideals of Olympism itself.

In a far away hitherto unknown city off the Pacific Ocean – Haiyang – a bunch of countries took their first step towards basketball success winning their first medals in a sport which now is a fast growing phenomenon among the youth of the world – FIBA 3x3.

Indian women and Afghanistan men both won their first-ever gold at the Asian level at the 3rd Asian Beach Games, thus raising hopes of a turning point for basketball in their countries.

“Indian basketball, especially on the women’s side, has struggled for a long time without proper success. This win comes at a time when we are pushing hard to take the game to the next level,” says Nandini Basappa, Vice President (Women) of the Basketball Federation of India.

“There has been always hard work, but somehow we have always faltered at the final hurdle,” adds Basappa, a player of immense ability in her hey days.

Afghanistan coach Mamo Rafiq took it an altogether different level terming the gold medal as a catalyst “to change the face of Afghan sport.”

“It (the gold medal) provides all Afghan athletes the confidence to believe success is possible at the highest level in Asia,” Rafiq says.

“It also allows the government of Afghanistan to take a deeper look at sport and the positive impact it has on the country,” he went on.

Further down, Turkmenistan and Mongolia won medals in the men’s section, which might have been considered virtually impossible. Same is the case with the Filipino women.

That, exactly is the point of FIBA 3x3 Basketball.

“The FIBA 3x3 will provide an opportunity for countries to go to the Olympics, which otherwise might have not been possible,” FIBA President Yvan Mainini said at the FIBA Asia Mid-Term Congress at the end of May this year.

One might even call him clairvoyant. For, in less than a month countries which otherwise found it almost impossible to even participate in a basketball competition were now winning medals!

Certainly, FIBA 3x3 is giving hope where there might have been very little!

So long…

S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

FIBA’s columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.