BASKETBALL – Bahrain will host the 2025 Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final this November, the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) announced yesterday.
Fiba, the game’s worldwide governing body, revealed a 15-event calendar for this year’s tour, culminating with the grand finale in the kingdom, scheduled for November 21 and 22.
This will be the first time ever that Bahrain will be staging the season-ender, which will crown this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour champions. The past two editions in the kingdom were the Manama Masters.
Following yesterday’s announcement, Bahrain Basketball Association president Alaa Mudara said that Fiba’s awarding the finale to the kingdom reflects the great success achieved by Bahrain in organising the past Fiba events.
Mudara praised the unlimited support of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa to the nation’s sports sector and to basketball in particular.
The BBA chief also lauded the visions and directives of BOC vice-president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, who is the chairman of the local organising committee for Bahrain’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour events, and who is keen to highlight the kingdom’s presence on the worldwide circuit.
The 14th edition of the tour will see the world’s best players face off in the heart of 15 cities across three continents, taking the world’s fastest growing urban sport to millions of fans around the world.
For the fourth consecutive year, the 2025 season will get underway in style in Utsunomiya, Japan, on April 26 and 27. Then, the tour returns to familiar cities, including Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Abu Dhabi.
For the first time ever, downtown Vienna, which has previously hosted the Fiba 3x3 World Cup and Europe Cup, will experience the urban festival atmosphere of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
“We are incredibly excited to unveil this line-up of cities that make up our 2025 Fiba 3x3 World Tour schedule,” said Fiba 3x3 managing director Alex Sanchez.
“Thanks to our long-standing relationships, we know that we can count on these world-class cities to showcase the fast pace of 3x3 basketball in downtown locations and bring a sports festival atmosphere to all our fans.
“We look forward to building on the landmark year of 2024 and cementing our position as the world’s fastest growing urban sport.”
The final in Bahrain builds on its experience hosting its two World Tour Masters events in 2023 and 2024. On both occasions, the Manama Masters were held at a specially built venue at Bahrain Financial Harbour, offering a stunning backdrop to the exciting basketball action, which also included a women’s tournament, a slam dunk contest, and a three-point shootout.
The kingdom’s capital will now serve as the stage for the thrilling curtain-closer. The schedule promises festival atmospheres as sport, music, and culture fuse together in locations around the world.
Each stop on the tour will bring together top-ranked teams competing for valuable points to qualify for the prestigious final in Bahrain. Amsterdam from the Netherlands won last year’s tour title in December in Hong Kong, after defeating Paris of France 22-20 in the championship game.
This year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final is one of a few major Fiba events to be held in Bahrain. Two others are the Fiba Mid-Term Congress on May 16 and 17 and the Class of 2025 enshrinement ceremony to the Fiba Hall of Fame (HOF) on May 17.
The mid-term congress will feature the participation of representatives from Fiba’s 212 member national federations, while the Fiba HOF ceremony will honour basketball superstars including Pau Gasol, Mike Krzyzewski, and Andrew Bogut, among others, for their tremendous contributions to the worldwide game.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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