How This Asian Country Became 3X3 Contender Against Powerhouse Basketball Nations

In terms of sports, Mongolia excels primarily in individual sports such as boxing, wrestling, and even mixed martial arts.

Mongolia has never been known to flourish in team sports, but that’s until recently when the country has slowly become one of the top teams in 3X3 basketball.

Since 2013, Mongolia has been a fixture in the 3x3 Asian Cup, and in four appearances, the men’s team has finished with a gold medal once in 2017 and a silver medal twice in 2018 and 2019. The women’s team, meanwhile, finished with a silver medal in 2013.

This steady and unexpected success has helped boost the sport’s popularity in the country.

“Mongolian people love, love 3X3 basketball. We have a specific channel on TV for 3X3 basketball, and even when we’re not playing, people watch 3X3 basketball because it’s really fun,” said Mongolian Women’s 3X3 National Team member Khulan Onolbaatar. “I think for the last few years, our men’s team, Ulaanbaatar, paved the way for Mongolian 3X3 basketball.”

The Mongolian Men’s National Team has also achieved considerable success on the world stage. In 2018, they finished 8th overall, qualifying to the knockout stage after finishing second in Group C.

They would fall to eventual champions Serbia in the quarter-finals. The following year, Mongolia could not replicate the success of their previous tournament, falling short of making it back into the qualifying round.

Still, the success of the 2018 squad did nothing but energize the country's hopes of eventually becoming a true contender in the 3X3 ranks.

“They were successful in the Asia Cup, and in the 2019 World Cup, they also went into a qualifying round, and that was a historic moment for us. We were so happy, all of Mongolia was happy for them,” Onolbaatar shared.

The Mongolian Women’s 3x3 National Team recently made history by being the nation's first team delegation to ever qualify for the Olympics.

In the past years, Mongolia has competed solely in individual sports, and the 3X3 tournament will be Mongolia’s first team sport participation in the Summer Games.

“[Mongolia] was never good at group sports, and it shows that we can actually be good together, we can make good things as a group. As individuals, we can do such good things, but as a group, we can do greater things,” Onolbaatar stated.