🏀 Mongolian Baller: Khulan Onolbaatar, Rising FIBA 3x3 Star, on Her Country & Women's Basketball

AWSN is proudly broadcasting the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series 2025. They shared a special interview with a star player out of the first host city of the season. Check out the original article here or read below:

‘We are competitors – we are warriors’ – Mongolia’s Khulan motivated by first home

FIBA 3x3 World Cup

It is a pivotal year for 3x3 basketball in Mongolia – the East Asia nation is hosting the FIBA

3x3 World Cup for the first time between June 23-29. The build-up to the event is expected

to stir a significant uptick in the number of adults and children who play the sport in a country

populated by only 3.5 million people, while itself promoting Mongolian basketball on the

international stage.

The championship will take centre stage in Mongolia’s capital city Ulaanbaatar; the

culmination of years of dedication and hard work within the FIBA 3x3 national association –

something women’s national-team player Khulan Onolbaatar believes will be transformative

for both the professional game and recreational basketball in her home country.

“In Mongolia, we’ve never hosted a senior-level national team world cup for an Olympic

discipline,” Khulan explains. “There’s a lot of excitement around the build-up to the event and

a great opportunity to showcase Mongolian basketball to the world. The popularity of 3x3

basketball has skyrocketed in Mongolia ever since 2017 when the national men’s team won

the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup for the first time in Mongolia.

“Ever since then, we have seen more female players on the international level too and

continued when the female team qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for the first

time. Being able to compete on the biggest stage is every athlete’s dream. As the country’s

first female flagbearer at the Tokyo Games, it was a huge privilege for me and has all

contributed to the growing popularity of 3x3 basketball in Mongolia.”

During her professional basketball career, Khulan, 25, says she is already seeing a shift in

the sport’s popularity.

“This speaks volumes to the growing popularity of 3x3 basketball we’ve witnessed during

recent years,” Khulan continues. “I’ve seen more girls who want to play basketball and

Mongolian people supporting us on the international stage, while there are far more 3x3

courts available to play on. Basketball is becoming one of Mongolia’s most popular national

sports alongside our traditional sports such as wrestling, judo, and archery, which have

always been in our blood.”

Khulan, who plays professionally in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA)

league, has also been called up to Mongolia’s women’s 5x5 national team for the 2025

season, for whom she continues to trade experiences between both basketball codes during

preparation for the FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series tip-off next month.

“I’m grateful every single time I am called up to be a part of the national team – whether that

is 5x5 or 3x3 – and to wear the Mongolian jersey on an international level,” she says. “That

will never get old to me. Every time I get emotional and have a feeling of gratitude, I’m

reminded of the many people supporting us – from the FIBA 3x3 association to the sponsors

to the fans. With this level of kindness around us, we just want to get better and show that

their efforts can lead to something good.”

The basketball talent pool in Mongolia remains small, Khulan expands, though there are

seeds of growth being planted. During her rise to the national-team setups, she explains that

basketball came to her late during her schooling and it wasn’t until she graduated from high

school in Melbourne, Australia, that her professional basketball career took flight.

“I was never an athlete growing up,” Khulan explains. “I used to be a very good student but it

wasn’t until I was 18 when I graduated from high school in Australia that I started playing

competitive basketball. My dad and I used to livestream the college games my brother

(men’s national-team player Enkhbaatar Onolbaatar) played in Australia. It was watching him

play and really enjoying himself that ignited something in me and made me want to feel the

joy too.

“Everyone was more experienced than me, so I had to work harder to catch up. I spent more

time in the gym and stayed behind after training often. When I was younger, I used to play

with my brother during our summer vacation time. In Mongolia, there is a nomadic lifestyle in

the countryside. There’s no electricity, nothing else to do, so the neighbourhood kids would

come over to play with us, which I think is where my love of basketball first started.”

Herself a FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup bronze medallist in 2024, before going on to represent

Mongolia’s 3x3 basketball team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Khulan reiterates the

desire within the sport’s governance and amongst its on-court talent to continue to grow

basketball’s short-game in Mongolia. It would mean a lot, she says, to encourage future

generations to get inspired by the sport which has given so much to her playing career.

“Our success has been the work of so many people behind closed doors,” Khulan continues.

“I’m extremely grateful for our FIBA 3x3 basketball association in Mongolia and being part of

a really great system which helps us compete on a higher level and to be more competitive.

We have a great support system which helps us to improve.

“On top of that, we have some amazing sponsors who have put a lot of trust in us, which I

think is part of the mental belief we have developed as a team on the court. We are

competitors – we are warriors. It’s a great message to send to young people who look up to

us that hard work and kindness together can help you develop as a person and open new

opportunities for them inside and outside of basketball.”

AWSN will air the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series 2025 season starting in May! Bookmark the schedule for your local times!

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