TORONTO (Aug. 21, 2026) – Canada Basketball announced Thursday the four athletes who will represent Canada at the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series stop in Bangkok, Thailand, from Aug. 22-23, with three-time Olympian Michelle Plouffe returning to competition for the first time since the 2024 FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Final.

Plouffe will be joined by Cassandra Brown, Paige Crozon, Katherine Plouffe as Canada continues its push toward the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Final in Shanghai, China.
Canada enters the final stretch of the regular season sitting 10th in the Women’s Series standings, with the top seven teams, plus the host, advancing to the season-ending Final on Sept. 5-6.

With Canada looking to climb into a qualification position, Plouffe’s return provides the program with one of the most accomplished players in the history of the discipline.

“As we looked at where we are in the Women’s Series standings and what we need to make a push toward Shanghai, Michelle was an option that made a lot of sense for us,” said Steve Baur, Vice-President and General Manager, Women’s High Performance. “She has remained incredibly close to the game and to this group through her role with our program, and over time there have been conversations about what it might look like for her to play again.

“Bangkok gives us an opportunity to add an exceptional player to our group at an important point in the season, while giving Michelle an opportunity to compete again and see how it feels.”

Plouffe announced her retirement from international competition in July 2025 before transitioning into her role as Canada Basketball’s 3×3 Performance Manager.

The Edmonton native was one of the foundational members of Canada’s women’s 3×3 program, helping establish the team as one of the sport’s most consistent international contenders. Alongside Katherine Plouffe and Paige Crozon, she helped build the program from its early days in 2019 before Canada eventually qualified for its first Olympic Games in the discipline.

Plouffe returned from ACL reconstruction in 2024 to help Canada secure its historic Olympic berth at the final FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Debrecen, Hungary. Canada went on to finish fourth at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Paris marked Plouffe’s third Olympic appearance. She previously represented Canada in five-on-five basketball at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Her 3×3 résumé also includes back-to-back FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series championships in 2022 and 2023, a silver medal at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 World Cup and gold at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup.

The Bangkok stop is one of the final opportunities for teams to earn points toward qualification for the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Final in Shanghai.

Schedule – Saturday, Aug. 22

Canada vs. Madagascar – 4:50 a.m. ET / 1:50 a.m. PT
Canada vs. Australia – 6:40 a.m. ET / 3:40 a.m. PT
‍
The knockout round will take place Sunday, Aug. 23. All games will be streamed live on CBC Gem and FIBA 3×3’s official YouTube channel.
‍

Canada Roster

Cassandra Brown — Vernon, B.C.
Paige Crozon — Humboldt, Sask.
Michelle Plouffe — Edmonton, Alta.
Katherine Plouffe — Edmonton, Alta.

‍Head Coach: Daniel Ferguson

BASKETBALL – Bahrain have named their under-23 women’s and men’s 3×3 basketball national teams that will be competing in the Fiba 3×3 Youth Nations League 2026-Asia West/Pacific conference in Singapore.

The kingdom’s representatives are scheduled to hit the hardwood in all six stops of their competition, to be held over as many days from Thursday to August 26.

Bahrain are one of six nations taking part in both the women’s and men’s events.

The others are Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkmenistan, and home side Singapore.

The women’s national team features top 3×3 players Bayan Salman, Ninel Merkotun, Polina Sviatskaia, JaMya Robinson, Noor Najaf, and Amina Hani.

They are coached by veteran Bahraini tactician Murtadha Mohammed.

The men’s national squad is composed of Ismail Kamal, Meshal Mohammed, Nasser Alanzoor, Mohammed Alanzi, Elyas Younes, and Hamad Faisal.

They are coached by Bogdan Dragovic, who is fresh from competing with Bahrain’s Seef in the Singapore Challenger as part of the Fiba 3×3 World Tour 2026.

The national teams’ manager is Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) official Ahmed Elyas.

The BBA announced the kingdom’s final rosters prior to their departure for Singapore on Saturday night.

Their upcoming Fiba 3×3 Youth Nations League 2026-Asia West/Pacific events act as qualification for the Fiba 3×3 U23 World Cup, which is to be held in Hubei, China, from September 15 to 19.

In the first of the six stops, which will kick start the action on Thursday later this week, Bahrain’s women have been slotted into Pool A along with Saudi and hosts Singapore.

Pool B features Australia, Qatar, and Turkmenistan.

The Bahrainis get their campaign underway against the Singaporeans at 11.10am before playing their Saudi counterparts at 1pm later that same day.

In the men’s competition, Bahrain are also in Pool A with Saudi and Singapore, with Pool B composed of Australia, Qatar, and Turkmenistan.

They first lock horns with the Singaporeans at 9.45am and then take on their Saudi rivals at 1.25pm.

Bahrain’s teams must finish atop Pool A in order to advance to their respective finals, where they will take on the winners of Pool B.

The women’s title-decider is scheduled for 2pm followed by the men’s at 2.25pm.

All times are Bahrain.

The FIBA 3×3 Youth Nations League 2026 features under-23 national teams competing across distinct conferences all over the world.

Each conference plays six developmental tournament stages, or stops, to determine who qualifies for the season-ending final.

Aside from Asia West/Pacific, the other conferences are Africa East, Africa North, Africa South, Americas North, Americas South, Asia Central/East, Asia SEA, Europe One, Europe Two, Europe Three, Europe Four, and Pacific.

There are also conferences for under-21 teams, including Asia One, Asia Two, Europe One, Europe Two, and Europe Three.

patrick@gdnmedia.bh