BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN representatives Riffa finished a solid fifth overall yesterday in the Ulaanbaatar stop of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
The kingdom’s squad bowed out of title contention in the quarter-final stage, narrowly losing to Baskets Bonn of Germany 15-18 in their round-of-eight clash at the Mongolian capital.
The quartet of Dennis Donkor, Jonas Foerts, Vic Van Oosterwyck, and Bahraini player Mohammed Kowayed competed in the event.
It was their second appearance as a team in as many weeks on the 2025 worldwide series. They had also played together in Vienna, Austria, where Kowayed made history and became the first-ever player from the kingdom to compete in the Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
They claimed their spot on the final rankings based on their record and total points scored in the event.
In yesterday’s contest, Riffa had a tough start, giving up the game’s first six points, until Van Oosterwyck finally broke their scoring drought after a minute-and-a-half of action.
The Bahraini side struggled with Baskets Bonn’s size advantage, and the Germans did well to stave off their opponents’ bid to fight back.
Riffa faced a 12-16 deficit heading into the final minute, and were unable to get any closer with some unlucky missed shots and turnovers.
Foerts finished as Riffa’s leading scorer with six points in the loss, while Donkor added five. Kowayed contributed three points while Van Oosterwyck had one.
For Baskets Bonn, Fabian Giessmann scored eight points while Sidi Beikame added five.
Meanwhile, Foerts was crowned champion of the event’s shootout contest, also held as part of yesterday’s programme in Ulaanbaatar. Foerts finished the contest with 15 points to secure first place, beating out Petar Sucur of Bordeaux from France by a single point. Tsenguunbayar Gotov of Zavkhan from Mongolia finished third with 10 points, while Yichao You of Hangzhou from China was fourth with six points.
Along with Mongolia, the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025 has also already made stops in Japan, China, the Netherlands, France, and Austria. Following this event, competitions will also be held in Hong Kong; Edmonton, Canada; Lausanne, Switzerland; Debrecen, Hungary; Shanghai and Shenzhen in China; Macau; and Abu Dhabi, the UAE; before heading to Bahrain for the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025 finale on November 21 and 22.
There are also 20 lower-tier Challenger tournaments to be held throughout the season.
This year will be the first time ever that Bahrain will be staging the curtain-closer, which will crown this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour champions.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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