SASKATOON -- Team Saskatoon will represent Canada at the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup, Canada Basketball announced Friday.
Captain Michael Linklater along with Michael Lieffers, Nolan Brudehl and Steve Sir will compete in the 40-team 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 3x3 World Tour Final in Sendai, Japan.
This past year, fans voted Linklater as the "most spectacular player" of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour season.
"Our team is both proud and excited to represent Canada at the FIBA 3x3 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 3x3. This is the first step to helping Canada qualify for the 2020 Olympics," Linklater said.
The event, organized by FIBA and the Basketball Federation of the Philippines, will be the fifth edition of the competition. Russia won the women's title and Serbia the men's last year in Nantes, France.
