 | This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources .(March 2021) |
Basketball is included in top sports being played in Japan but it is less popular than football and baseball. [1]
| This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources .(March 2021) |
Basketball is included in top sports being played in Japan but it is less popular than football and baseball. [1]
The B. League is a professional basketball league in Japan that was established in 2016. [1] It is a combination of Super League and bj league enforced by FIBA. [2]
B. League has three divisions, with 18 teams in Divisions 1 and 2. Division 3 only has 12 teams. [2]
Japan is represented in international competitions by the men's national team and the women's national team
This was the last major appearance of the National Team at the Olympics. The Women's National Team reached its highest ranking, at 5th place. [2]
The Men's National Team was able to enter after a great performance during the qualifiers, even though they ranked 48th in the world. [2] They ranked 31st in the final standings of the competition. [3]
The Women's National Team ranked 9th in this competition.
As host of the Olympics, the men and women's national teams automatically qualified to compete. [2] The men's team placed 11th, and the women's team earned the silver medal.
Sports in Japan are a significant part of Japanese culture. Both traditional sports such as sumo and martial arts, and Western imports like baseball, association football, basketball and tennis are popular with both participants and spectators.
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college competitions, and has since spread globally. As of 2020, basketball is one of the most popular and fastest growing sports in the world.
Among all sportin Turkey, the most popular one is football. Turkey's top teams include Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş. In 2000, Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Two years later, the Turkish national team finished third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals in Japan and South Korea, while in 2008, the national team reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 2008 competition. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul hosted the 2005 and 2023 UEFA Champions League Final, while the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul hosted the 2009 UEFA Cup Final. Turkey will host the UEFA Euro 2032 along with Italy.
A.E.K., known as A.E.K., is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Athens. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens.
Sports in American Samoa are slightly different from sports in Samoa. The main difference is that Samoans in American Samoa are more likely to follow or play American sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. Western Samoans are more likely to follow or play rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Sports such as mixed martial arts, boxing, professional wrestling, and volleyball are popular among most ethnic Samoans regardless of location.
Sport in Spain in the second half of the 20th century has always been dominated by football. Other popular sport activities include basketball, tennis, cycling, padel, handball, rugby, rally, motorcycling, judo, Formula One, water sports, rhythmic gymnastics, bullfighting, golf, and skiing.
Sport in Croatia has significant role in Croatian culture, and many local sports clubs as well as the Croatian national squads enjoy strong followings in the country. The most enduring sport by far in Croatia is football, and is played on amateur and professional levels amongst all age groups across the entire country. Several other major team sports are handball, basketball and water polo, with clubs in all parts of Croatia. Ice hockey is another popular team sport, namely in the Croatian interior. The most popular individual sports in Croatia are tennis, alpine skiing, and swimming, and to some extent table tennis and chess. Various amateur sport games are popular in Croatia, notably picigin.
Basketball is the most popular sport overall in Asia. Cricket is the second most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include association football, baseball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The International Basketball Federation is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the equipment and facilities required, organizes international competitions, regulates the transfer of athletes across countries, and controls the appointment of international referees. A total of 212 national federations are members, organized since 1989 into five zones: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
Sports are widely practiced in Austria, both in professional and amateur competitions. The most popular sports are association football, alpine skiing and ice hockey.
3x3 basketball is a variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one backboard and in a half-court setup. According to an ESSEC Business School study commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, 3x3 is the largest urban team sport in the world. This basketball game format is currently being promoted and structured by FIBA, the sport's governing body. Its primary competition is an annual FIBA 3X3 World Tour, comprising a series of Masters and one Final tournament, and awarding six-figure prize money in US dollars. The FIBA 3x3 World Cups for men and women are the highest tournaments for national 3x3 teams. The 3x3 format has been adopted for both the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 that did not occur in the same year as the FIFA World Cup. The tournament expanded from 24 to 32 teams.
The Lebanon women's national basketball team represents Lebanon in international women's basketball tournaments and is governed by the Lebanese Basketball Federation.
In Israel, basketball is a popular sport, with a multi-tiered professional club league system, as well as men's and women's national teams.
Gabrielle Lisa Williams is an American-French professional basketball player. She was drafted 4th overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2018 WNBA draft. In 2022 she was a EuroLeague champion with Sopron and was named the Final Four MVP. Williams played forward for the UConn women's basketball team, and won back to back national championships in 2015 and 2016.
Belgium competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the nation's official debut in 1900, Belgian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis.
The People's Republic of China competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's eleventh appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1952. The opening ceremony flag-bearers for China are volleyball player Zhu Ting and taekwondoin Zhao Shuai. Sprinter Su Bingtian, who broke the Asian record of 100 m during the Games, is the flag-bearer for the closing ceremony. The delegation competed in all sports except baseball (softball), handball, and surfing.
France competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. French athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland. As Paris will host the 2024 Summer Olympics, France was the penultimate nation to enter the stadium, alongside the United States which will host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, before the host country Japan during the parade of nations at the opening ceremony. Additionally, a French segment was performed in Paris and some pre-recorded events at the closing ceremony as performers did not travel to Tokyo due to the travel restrictions related to the pandemic. However, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo was the only delegation present at the ceremony.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to basketball across the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Across the world and to varying degrees, events and competitions have been cancelled or postponed with limited or no spectators, and other restrictions in 2020 and 2021. The National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended its 2019–20 season due to one player testing positive from COVID-19, and began to resume the season later in 2020.
