Breakthroughs

Despite the World Cup disappointment, it wasn't all doom and gloom for China in international competition last year, with the country's 3x3 ballers delivering plenty of cheer.

Considered more of a fun pursuit than a serious competition, the 3x3 game saw its profile significantly enhanced in China after the nation's women's squad won the inaugural FIBA 3x3 World Cup, beating Hungary 19-13 in June's final in Amsterdam.

The historic triumph was the first major international basketball title won by any Chinese team.

Both China's men's and women's 3x3 national teams have qualified for the event's eight-squad Olympic debut in Tokyo directly through the FIBA rankings, which are calculated by totaling players' individual ranking points gained at FIBA-sanctioned events.

Aimed at making the Games more appealing to young people, the International Olympic Committee voted in June 2017 to add the 3x3 game to the Olympic program, starting with the Tokyo 2020 edition.

CBA's 3x3 league reached out to 300 cities across the country in the 2019 season, involving over 100,000 players in two age groups, for both men and women, before concluding with the national finals in July.

The country's 3x3 program is hopeful that the 5x5 national team's leader Yi Jianlian, who in May became the first Chinese in six years to be named CBA Finals MVP, might realize his dream of playing at a fifth Olympics by signing up for the half-court discipline.

"For us the goal is to compete for a podium finish at the Olympics to further boost the discipline's popularity in the future," said Chai Wensheng, director of the CBA's 3x3 department.

Meanwhile, China hopes to unearth more Yi Jianlians in schools via mini basketball－a miniature version of the sport aimed at children under 12 years old using lighter balls and smaller courts.

The grassroots game enjoyed increasing popularity in 2019, with 180,000 kids involved in a school program, up from 100,000 the previous year.