Basketball cuts 2 games from 2020 Tokyo Olympic format

MIES, Switzerland (AP) — The Olympic basketball tournament has been shortened for the 2020 Tokyo Games to cut the number of group matches from five to three for each team.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) says the new format will feature three four-team groups in both the men’s and women’s tournament.

The top two teams in each group are joined in the quarterfinals by the two best third-place teams.

At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics — where the U.S. won both gold medals — teams were drawn in two groups of six, and so played five games in the first phase before entering the knockout bracket.

FIBA says the new format is “bringing additional interest to every game of the tournament already from the group phase.”