Watch the FIBA 3x3 basketball Olympic qualifying tournament
Live coverage resumes on Sunday from Graz, Austria
Click on the video player above to watch live action from the FIBA 3x3 basketball Olympic qualifying event in Graz, Austria.
Coverage continues on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The Canadians are ranked 11th in the world, and were grouped in Pool 'D' with the Netherlands (seventh), Latvia (fifth), Austria (27th), and Croatia (26th).
The Canadian men's team of Steve Sir, Kyle Landry, Jordan Jensen-Whyte and Alex Johnson failed to advance to the knock-out-rounds after falling on Saturday to Latvia 21-16 and then 19-16 to Austria.
Canada won their first two games at the tourney, dropping Croatia 18-14 on Thursday, and the Netherlands 17-15 on Friday.
The tournament format is as follows: Each team plays the other four teams in their respective pools. The top two teams from each pool qualify for the quarter-finals and then play knock-out games all the way to the semifinals. Six tickets (three per gender) to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics — where 3x3 will make its debut — will be awarded at the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
"Representing Canada is a tremendous honour for us," Sir says. "Thank you to the friends and family who have supported and believed in us throughout this journey. We are extremely excited to represent our country at the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament and earn Canada a 3x3 spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games."
The top three men's teams in the FIBA 3x3 rankings — Serbia, Russia and China — along with the Japanese hosts, have already qualified for the Olympics.
Canada's group-stage schedule
- Thursday: Canada 18, Croatia 14
- Friday: Canada 17, Netherlands 15
- Saturday: Latvia 21, Canada 16
- Saturday: Austria 19, Canada 16
The event will include both men's and women's team vying for a spot at the Tokyo Games, however, Canada will not have a women's 3-on-3 team in competition.
That is due to a complex rule that Canada could send only one gender to the Games, and the women's 3-on-3 team was ruled out because the country had been represented by a 5-on-5 women's team at the previous two Olympics.
Canada has not had a men's 5-on-5 team at the Olympics since 2000, so the men's 3-on-3 entry was given the nod.
With files from Louis Zatzman