BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S Riffa were crowned champions last night of the Superleague Pro 3x3 Stop One, played in the town of Beauvais in France.
Riffa secured the crown following a thrilling 17-16 victory at the buzzer against Partizan of Serbia in the tournament final.
Thibaut Vervoort made a crucial steal and drove to the basket for the game-winning lay-up as time expired. Vervoort’s basket secured the title for the kingdom’s representatives, who are one of the top 3x3 basketball teams worldwide.
Earlier in the game, Riffa had a slim 16-14 lead following a Dennis Donkor lay-up with half-a-minute remaining. But Partizan tied it with a two-pointer by Stefan Torbica with only under 20 seconds to go.
But that set the stage for Vervoort’s end-game heroics. Jonas Foerts had first given away possession after losing control of the ball with five seconds left, but then Vervoort stole the ball from Stefan Milivojevic and raced to the basket for the clincher.
In their previous fixtures yesterday, Riffa booked their tickets to the championship game after beating Vienna of Austria 21-18 in the semi-finals. In the quarters, Riffa were dominant in a 22-12 triumph over Hangzhou of China. That gave them a winning start to the knockout stage.
With yesterday’s results, Riffa wrapped up the tournament with an unbeaten record in five games, having also taken both their assignments in the preliminary round. They were competing in Pool B, where they were victorious against Bonn Telekom of Germany and then followed it up with a win against Carolina Casa Pol of Puerto Rico.
Riffa are the kingdom’s representatives on the annual Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
They were one of 12 teams coming from all over the world in the French competition, which acted as a qualifier for the Amsterdam Masters, part of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
That event is scheduled for May, and Riffa have secured their place.
Also competing for Riffa in Beauvais was Vic Van Oosterwyck.
The Superleague Pro 3x3 Stop One was part of Riffa’s international campaign ahead of the start of the 2025 Fiba 3x3 World Tour – the game’s biggest and most prestigious street basketball competition with stops all over the world, including Bahrain.
The 14th edition of the worldwide series will see the world’s best players face off in the heart of 15 cities across three continents.
For the fourth consecutive year, the 2025 calendar will get underway in Utsunomiya, Japan on April 26 and 27.
The tour finale will then take place in Bahrain on 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.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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