MANILA, Philippines – After establishing itself as a pioneer in the development of 3x3 basketball, the Philippines will now get the chance to host the sport's premier event as the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup will be held here.

Manila has previously hosted two stages of the professional season — the FIBA 3x3 World Tour in 2014 and 2015 — where PBA stars such as Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva made a name for themselves as superb 3x3 players as well.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas will organize the fifth edition of the event.

"We are very proud and honored to be hosting the FIBA 3x3 World Cup next year," SBP executive director Sonny Barrios said in a statement. "Our two previous experiences hosting FIBA 3x3 events have been a success, and 3x3 has become a centerpiece of our development program."

All games at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2018 will be played on the same court with 20 men's and 20 women's teams competing in a team event and three individual contests (men’s dunk contest including professional dunkers, women’s skills contest and mixed shootout contest).

"We are delighted to bring the FIBA 3x3 World Cup to the Philippines," FIBA 3x3 managing director Alex Sanchez said.

"We are positive SBP and the passionate Filipino fans will make it an unbelievable experience for the best 3x3 players in the world and everyone watching on all platforms."

The selection of teams for the tournament will be based on the FIBA 3x3 federation ranking at the cutoff date of Nov. 1.

The ranking includes sport and development criteria, allowing both the strongest teams on the field as well as the most active countries to participate in the event, which fulfills a key aim of 3x3 — diversity. At least 30 different countries and territories will be represented at the competition.

Serbia's men and Czech Republic's women are the reigning FIBA 3x3 world champions following their success at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2016 in Guangzhou, China.

The 2017 edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup will be staged in Nantes, France on June 17-21.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)