Hustle100 Is Huge Says Steel

This Sunday’s Hustle100 tournament is huge for Australia’s hopes of making next year’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament according to 3×3 superstar Andrew Steel.

FIBA will announce the competing nations of next year’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament on November 1, with the rankings currently invisible to avoid spoilers.

With participation the main driver of ranking points, Steel says Australia is doing all they can to try and get the men to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will take place in India in March next year.

“It’s huge,” Steel said of this weekend’s Hustle100.

“Every event from now until the end of November, we are pushing to make a high degree of involvement with the basketball community.

“A lot of teams have jumped on board which is great, and we are really excited to give it a red-hot crack and see where it ends up.

“At the moment all the rankings have gone dark, so it’s a bit of a mystery how it all ends up. Events like this will put us in good stead.”

Steel will line up with his Spectres iAthletic teammates Tom Wright, Jon Cooke and Costas Hronopoulos in Hustle100, the final 3x3Hustle tournament of the 2019 season.

Wright added he also hopes Hustle100 will help the Australian men collect enough points to rise up the rankings.

“I’m super excited,” Wright said.

“It’s a great opportunity to continue the momentum that we have had this year. We have had such a big year going to the World Cup, going to the Asia Cup and winning that, the qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico. On top of all the Hustles, it’s been an absolute mammoth year.

“The last couple of months it has dropped off a little bit just because I don’t think we have the schedule like the European teams do.

“To pull together an event like this with such incredible players that we have in Melbourne, I think it’s super exciting. I know we are hopefully close to qualifying in terms of all the points and we are doing everything we can to try and get there.”

Keep it locked to 3x3Hustle’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages for Hustle100 coverage on Sunday.