FIBA 3×3 tournament gets underway in downtown Saskatoon

A busy part of downtown Saskatoon looks more like a gym than a street this weekend as the FIBA 3×3 world tour makes a stop in the bridge city.

Bleachers from SaskTel Centre were trucked in for the Saskatoon Masters just outside the Bessborough Hotel.

“It took six and a half hours to bring all these bleachers down here to stage on 21st Street,” local organizer Kent Hartshorn told 650 CKOM.

“Each time they’d bring one bleacher down, they’d have to change the tires and go back up (to SaskTel Centre).”

Hartshorn expects around 10,000 people to come to the tournament through the weekend.

While there are activities for kids, a dunk competition and shootout contest it’s not all about fun.

This is the first time the 3×3 Masters is being held in Canada and the winning team gets a cash prize and a shot at the finals in October held in Bejing.

The pro-tournament starts at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Team Saskatoon plays its first game at 3:20 p.m. against Winnipeg.

It wraps up with the final Sunday afternoon.