2023 National Teams Look Back

To define the future, one must study the past

Confucius

As we look to continue building our National Teams for future success, let’s take a look back at our team’s 2023 accomplishments in FIBA and regional games.

FIBA Asia Cup Pre Qualifiers, Mongolia, February 2023

Our Men’s National Team started off 2023 with the Second Round of Pre-Qualifiers for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Mongolia back in February 2023.

Coming in with a 0-3 record, we needed to win both our games to move on to the next round of qualification

We overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit to defeat our neighbours Singapore 75-69 for a positive start. 

In our second game, we matched up with Hong Kong and were only down by 3 with a minute remaining but unfortunately fell 66-71, confirming our exit from qualification.

32nd SEA Games, Cambodia, May 2023

For the second straight SEA Games, our Men’s Team finished fifth.

We started our campaign with a 49-94 loss to the eventual gold medalists, the Philippines before bouncing back in style, seeing off Singapore 93-70.

In our final group game, we gave a valiant fight but couldn’t overcome Cambodia who were reinforced with six naturalized American players, falling 90-104.

Avenging our defeat to them in the last SEA Games, we took down Vietnam 94-83 to finish fifth. 

Unfortunately, our team did not progress through the group stage of the 3×3 Category, with a 1-2 record including a loss to Cambodia who utilized three naturalized Americans on the team. 

2022 Asian Games 3×3, China, September 2023

With only U23 players allowed to participate, Malaysia was represented by Lee Jia Jun, Lai Kok Weng, Lim Wan Seong and De Wee Yiang.

Grouped with Macau, India and China, our team lost all three games and was unable to progress to the next stage. 

FIBA 3×3 Asia-Oceania U23 Nations League, China, June 2023 

Represented by Ooi Xian Fu, Lim Wan Seong, Michael Munesvicky, Leong Zhen Kang and Chong Zhen Yang, the team participated in six stops, collecting three wins, including memorable victories over China and Mongolia. 

32nd SEA Games,  Cambodia, May 2023

For the second straight SEA Games, our women’s team finished on the podium with a bronze medal achievement. 

The team started their campaign with an astounding 107-101 overtime victory against the hosts Cambodia. Down by 19 against the team reinforced with four naturalized Americans, our women showed amazing grit to comeback for the win.

A comfortable 75-39 win over Singapore followed before a tough 57-85 loss to the eventual gold medalists, Indonesia. 

We bounced back with another hard-fought 76-72 win over Vietnam before seeing off Thailand 64-48.

In our final game which would have decided the silver medal, we could not overcome the Philippines, falling 63-77.

On the 3×3 front, our Women’s team could not progress through the group stage, finishing with a 1-2 record. 

FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Division B, Thailand, August 2023

Our Women’s Team returned to senior FIBA competition for the first time since 2015. 

We suffered close losses to Iran and Indonesia in the group stage before seeing off Mongolia 85-68 to move into the qualifying round. 

Coming up against the hosts, Thailand, we kept the game close but fourth-quarter woes saw us drop the game 58-67. 

Our tournament closed on a positive note, with an impressive 62-44 win over Kazakhstan seeing us finish fifth. 

2023 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup, Singapore, March 2023

Represented by Wong Chah Yee, Foo Suet Ying, Toh Ke Hui and Tan Yin Jie, our Women’s team participated but could not progress past the group stage, dropping our games to Mongolia and New Zealand. 

2022 Asian Games 3×3, China, September 2023

With the tournament only eligible for U23 players, our team consisted of Foo Suet Ying, Tan Sin Jie, Tan Yin Jie and Sammi Tan.

Grouped with South Korea, Thailand and Maldives, the team advanced to the next round with victories over Thailand and Maldives.

Alas, the team fell 6-16 to India in the qualification game for the quarter-finals. 

2023 FIBA 3×3 Womens Series

In a bid to further develop our Women’s 3×3 Basketball scene, our women’s teams participated in several FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series.  We sent teams to participate in Azerbaijan, Poland, China (August 2023), Switzerland (July 2023) and France (June 2023)

2023 FIBA 3×3 U23 Nations League Asia-Oceania, China, June 2023

With Tan Yin Jie, Sammi Tan, Tan Sin Jie, Foo Suet Ying, Wong Chah Yee and Nur Adila Shahira as our representatives, the team participated in six stops in China and collected three wins out of 12 games. 

SEABA U16 Championship, Indonesia, July 2023.

Our U16 Team had a successful SEABA U16 Championship, finishing second to qualify for the FIBA Asia U16 Championship in Qatar.

Starting the tournament with a 52-94 loss to the Philippines, the team then dropped a close 80-83 loss to the hosts Indonesia.

In a do-or-die game against Thailand, our boys made us proud with a dramatic 85-79 win to secure our ticket to Qatar. Elvin Hoo was the standout performer with 32 points. 

FIBA U16 Asian Championship, Qatar, September 2023

Our boys started the tournament stunningly, defeating a Kazakhstan team with only one player shorter than 187 cm 79-71.

Despite losing our next two games to China and the Philippines, we still moved on to the playoffs. where the team put in a valiant effort but bowed out of the tournament with a narrow 64-70 loss to Jordan to finish 12th overall. 

FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup, Hungary, August 2023

Our U18 Women’s Team achieved history, qualifying for the FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup for the first time in our history.

Represented by Connie Chua, Sammie Tan, Oh Xin Yu and Tan Shi Qing, the team was grouped with Poland, Mongolia, Chinese Taipei and Thailand. 

Despite losing all four games, the invaluable experience in participating on the world stage will be a key stepping stone to the development of Malaysian Women’s 3×3 basketball. 

FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship Division B, Jordan, July 2023

Our girls team returned to the FIBA Asia competition for the first time since 2017 and was grouped with Iran, Singapore and Guam.

Despite a close 74-80 loss to Iran to start the tournament, our girls rebounded strongly, defeating Guam and Singapore to qualify for the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, the Philippines proved too much to handle in the semi-finals as the team fell 44-79.

It was a positive end to the campaign for our girls as they defeated Hong Kong 52-46 to secure our second podium finish in the history of the competition.