ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - It is a pivotal year for 3x3 basketball in Mongolia – the East Asia nation is hosting the FIBA 3x3 World Cup for the first time between June 23-29. The build-up to the event is expected to stir a significant uptick in the number of adults and children who play the sport in a country populated by only 3.5 million people, while itself promoting Mongolian basketball on the international stage.
The championship will take centre stage in Mongolia’s capital city Ulaanbaatar; the culmination of years of dedication and hard work within the FIBA 3x3 national association – something women’s national-team player Khulan Onolbaatar believes will be transformative for both the professional game and recreational basketball in her home country.
“In Mongolia, we’ve never hosted a senior-level national team world cup for an Olympic discipline,” Khulan explains. “There’s a lot of excitement around the build-up to the event and a great opportunity to showcase Mongolian basketball to the world. The popularity of 3x3 basketball has skyrocketed in Mongolia ever since 2017 when the national men’s team won the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup for the first time in Mongolia.
“Ever since then, we have seen more female players on the international level too and continued when the female team qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for the first time. Being able to compete on the biggest stage is every athlete’s dream. As the country’s first female flagbearer at the Tokyo Games, it was a huge privilege for me and has all contributed to the growing popularity of 3x3 basketball in Mongolia.”
“This speaks volumes to the growing popularity of 3x3 basketball we’ve witnessed during recent years,” Khulan continues. “I’ve seen more girls who want to play basketball and Mongolian people supporting us on the international stage, while there are far more 3x3 courts available to play on. Basketball is becoming one of Mongolia’s most popular national sports alongside our traditional sports such as wrestling, judo, and archery, which have always been in our blood.”
Khulan, who plays professionally in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) league, has also been called up to Mongolia’s women’s 5x5 national team for the 2025 season, for whom she continues to trade experiences between both basketball codes during preparation for the FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series tip-off next month.
“I’m grateful every single time I am called up to be a part of the national team – whether that is 5x5 or 3x3 – and to wear the Mongolian jersey on an international level,” she says. “That will never get old to me. Every time I get emotional and have a feeling of gratitude, I’m reminded of the many people supporting us – from the FIBA 3x3 association to the sponsors to the fans. With this level of kindness around us, we just want to get better and show that their efforts can lead to something good.”
The basketball talent pool in Mongolia remains small, Khulan expands, though there are seeds of growth being planted. During her rise to the national-team setups, she explains that basketball came to her late during her schooling and it wasn’t until she graduated from high school in Melbourne, Australia, that her professional basketball career took flight.
“I was never an athlete growing up,” Khulan explains. “I used to be a very good student but it wasn’t until I was 18 when I graduated from high school in Australia that I started playing competitive basketball. My dad and I used to livestream the college games my brother (men’s national-team player Enkhbaatar Onolbaatar) played in Australia. It was watching him play and really enjoying himself that ignited something in me and made me want to feel the joy too.
“Everyone was more experienced than me, so I had to work harder to catch up. I spent more time in the gym and stayed behind after training often. When I was younger, I used to play with my brother during our summer vacation time. In Mongolia, there is a nomadic lifestyle in the countryside. There’s no electricity, nothing else to do, so the neighbourhood kids would come over to play with us, which I think is where my love of basketball first started.”
Herself a FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup bronze medallist in 2024, before going on to represent Mongolia’s 3x3 basketball team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Khulan reiterates the desire within the sport’s governance and amongst its on-court talent to continue to grow basketball’s short-game in Mongolia. It would mean a lot, she says, to encourage future generations to get inspired by the sport which has given so much to her playing career.
“Our success has been the work of so many people behind closed doors,” Khulan continues. “I’m extremely grateful for our FIBA 3x3 basketball association in Mongolia and being part of a really great system which helps us compete on a higher level and to be more competitive. We have a great support system which helps us to improve.
“On top of that, we have some amazing sponsors who have put a lot of trust in us, which I think is part of the mental belief we have developed as a team on the court. We are competitors – we are warriors. It’s a great message to send to young people who look up to us that hard work and kindness together can help you develop as a person and open new opportunities for them inside and outside of basketball.”