Vietnam Basketball Participates in FIBA ​​3x3 Asia Cup 2025: Early Preparation for SEA Games 33

Vietnam returns after 2 years of absence

The FIBA ​​3x3 Asia Cup (commonly known as the 3x3 Basketball Asia Championship) is an annual tournament recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). This event will be the first official international tournament in 2025 that the Vietnam Basketball team will participate in to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games taking place at the end of the year.

Accordingly, the Vietnam Basketball team participated in the tournament with 17 members (8 athletes). In which, Matthew Douglas Van Pelt took the position of head coach of the men's team, with athletes: Dinh Thanh Tam, Tran Dang Khoa, Young Duong Justin, Christopher William Dierker. The women's team participating in the tournament had David John Grice as head coach, including athletes: Truong Thao My, Truong Thao Vy, Nguyen Thi Tieu Duy and Bui Thu Hang.

Vietnam Men's and Women's Basketball Teams Depart for Asian Tournament

The FIBA ​​3x3 Asia Cup 2025 will be the tournament where the Vietnamese team will return to this arena after 2 years of absence. Having not competed for 2 years, the Vietnamese men's team ranked 20th out of 25 teams, in Group D with New Caledonia (21), Turkmenistan (13) and Thailand (12). The women's team ranked 19th out of 23 teams, in Group C with Maldives (23), Iran (14) and Kazakhstan (11). The two Vietnamese Basketball teams will have to compete in a preliminary round and only the group winner will advance to the official qualifying round.

According to the competition format, only the group winner in the preliminary round will advance to the official qualifying round, so every match of the Vietnamese 3x3 team can be considered a final match.

The last time Vietnam had a representative was at the FIBA ​​3x3 Asia Cup 2022, also in Singapore, about 2 months after the 31st SEA Games took place in Hanoi. At that time, due to not being well prepared and not having the strongest squad like in the SEA Games, the Vietnamese 3x3 team competed with the spirit of rubbing shoulders and accumulating experience.

The run-up to SEA Games 33

The FIBA ​​3x3 Asia Cup 2025 can be considered an early "test" for the Vietnamese 3x3 Basketball team, giving the women's and men's Basketball teams of the S-shaped land the opportunity to test their skills against opponents in the continent.

For the men's team, the return of Chris Dierker aka Dang Quy Kiet from the US, along with Justin Young, Tam Dinh and Khoa Tran, shows that the Vietnamese 3x3 team has invested and takes the 2025 Asia Cup tournament very seriously. Perhaps, these are the excellent athletes who will be present in the squad participating in the 33rd SEA Games.

This Asian tournament is a good opportunity for Vietnamese players to practice and improve their skills before the 33rd SEA Games.

As for the women's team, the fact that 3/4 of the members brought home the historic SEA Games gold medal for Vietnamese Basketball, Truong Thao My, Truong Thao Vy and Nguyen Thi Tieu Duy, also shows that Vietnamese Women's Basketball has high expectations of competing in this tournament.

According to the plan, the Basketball Department - Vietnam Sports Administration is coordinating with the Vietnam Basketball Federation to plan a training course for the team to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games. However, the location and training plan have not been disclosed yet, so participating in the FIBA ​​Asia Cup 3x3 this time is considered a good opportunity for the national men's and women's Basketball teams to have more opportunities to compete, learn, and improve their skills.

The domestic tournament schedule will be very tight from April to October. The fact that the 3x3 team will be gathered and compete internationally about 6 months in advance is the best opportunity to train, compete and test their skills before the 33rd SEA Games, which will take place in Thailand in December this year.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/bong-ro-viet-nam-du-fiba-3x3-asia-cup-2025-buoc-chay-da-som-cho-sea-games-33-20250326161547813.htm