Saturday, Oct 21st.- The first day of the group stage in 3x3 basketball was held at the Estadio Español, highlighting the prominent figures in this discipline who have gathered in Santiago 2023.

In May of this year, the 3x3 basketball World Championship (both male and female) took place in Vienna, where the United States emerged as the champions. Cierra Burdick, one of the key players on the team, is hoping to replicate that victory in Chile.

"We're excited to be here and thrilled for the opportunity. We know we want to get better every day, in every game, so this was a good starting point." Now we just have to keep building on this. This is a new tournament, a new challenge and a new oportunity "When you represent the United States, the goal is always to secure the gold. We were able to do it at the World Cup, and we hope to do it here at the Pan American Games," commented Burdick.

The Brazilian male's basketball team participating in Santiago 2023 includes two players who finished fourth at the World Championship in Vienna. One of them is Leandro Branquinho, who emphasized, "The Chilean organization is fantastic, the competition is at a world-class level, and we are very happy to be here." "Securing fourth place at the World Championship was an incredible experience, and it helped us improve a lot. It's also great for the entire continent to have teams representing us at the global level,"

These are the second Pan American Games in which 3x3 basketball is played. In Lima 2019, the gold in female 3x3 basketball went to the United States, while the silver medal was claimed by the Argentinian team. From that team, Natacha Pérez is repeating, and she hopes to go for the gold in Santiago 2023.

"I'm very happy, the truth is that the start is always challenging, with anxiety and nerves." "We play for a very short time, even though it's intense. It's a brief amount of time, and sometimes the first games are tough, and it's hard to get into the rhythm.” "I'm happy because it was a team effort, each one contributed from her position, and for me, that's the most important thing," said Pérez.

In Lima, the gold medal in male 3x3 basketball also went to the United States, and Kareem Maddox was a standout player on that team. He emphasized, "We had a good debut, and we felt good." “I believe El Salvador is a team that came prepared to play. They have good players, so once they gain more experience in 3x3, they will be a really tough team," "We're pleased that we managed to score. Life is a bit easier when you make your shots, and that allows us to forgive ourselves for some mistakes," "We still have to improve; our goal is always to get better in every game and give our best,"

3x3 basketball games, which made their debut at the Olympics Tokyo 2020, last for 10 minutes or until one of the two teams reaches 21 points. In the Pan American Games Santiago 2023, 12 countries will compete, divided into four groups of three. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals, which are set to start tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. This 3x3 basketball competition adds points to the Olympic Ranking.

Today’s results:
GROUP A
Mexico 22 - El Salvador 12
United States 22 - El Salvador 8

GROUP B
Trinidad & Tobago 22 - Dominican Republic 15
Puerto Rico 21 - Trinidad & Tobago 6

GROUP C
Uruguay 21 - Argentina 20
Chile 22 - Uruguay 13

GROUP D
Venezuela 21 - Haití 16
Brazil 21 – Haití 7
El Salvador and Haití are already eliminated

FEMALE
GROUP A
Mexico 19 - Republic Dominican 12
United States 22 - Republic Dominican 11

GROUP B
Colombia 17 - El Salvador 4
Colombia 21 - Chile 13

GROUP C
Venezuela 21 - Haiti 17
Puerto Rico 22 - Jamaica 11

GROUP D
Brazil 22 - Uruguay 12
Argentina 18 - Uruguay 9

Colombia classifies quarter-finals
Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Uruguay are already eliminated

Marcelo López - Manfred Schwager; translated by Andrés Castro / Photosport
Photo:  Alex Diaz / Santiago 2023 villa Photosport