Team Saskatoon will represent Canada at the 2018 FIBA 3×3 World Cup, Canada Basketball announced Friday.
Captain Michael Linklater along with Michael Lieffers, Nolan Brudehl and Steve Sir will compete in the 40-team basketball event that takes place June 8-12 in Manila, Philippines.
It will be the first time a Canadian team has competed at the tournament.
Linklater, 35, is Canada’s highest-ranked individual player at 50th with 431,400 points. Linklater, along with Lieffers, won silver at the 2014 FIBA 3×3 World Tour Final in Sendai, Japan.
This past year, fans voted Linklater as the “most spectacular player” of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour season.
Team Saskatoon played four times on the 2017 World Tour, and placed second in their hometown event.
“Our team is both proud and excited to represent Canada at the FIBA 3×3 World Cup 2018,” Linklater said in a release.
“We have worked extremely hard over the past five years to make this a reality. Our goal is to have a strong finish and show the world why we are one of the best teams in 3×3.
“This is the first step to helping Canada qualify for the 2020 Olympics.”
The International Olympic Committee announced last year that it was adding 3×3 basketball to the Olympic basketball program starting with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
With files from Global News