BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN representatives Riffa ranked eighth overall in the final standings yesterday of the Jakarta Challenger 2025 in Indonesia, held as part of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
Riffa lost their quarter-final game against Hangzhou of China 17-21 to suffer an early exit from the competition, which acted as a qualifying event for the higher-tier Lausanne Masters, scheduled to take place next month in Switzerland.
Riffa faced a quick 0-3 deficit at the beginning of the game and despite getting back to within two points, 5-7, on a Dennis Donkor basket from beyond the arc, Hangzhou stayed in control and Milos Jovanovic gave them a 12-6 advantage.
A pair of Vic Van Oosterwyck free-throws then cut the gap to 12-15, and then five unanswered points from Donkor, including back-to-back two-pointers, tied the proceedings at 17-all with just over a minute remaining.
But Hangzhou responded with an Aleksandar Lazic two-pointer and then a free-throw each from Jovanovic and Goran Vidovic earned Hangzhou the 21-point target, sealing the victory with just nine seconds left on the clock.
Donkor finished as Riffa’s leading scorer with six points, while Jonas Foerts and Andrej Cuyvers had four apiece. Van Oosterwyck finished with three.
Lazic paced Hangzhou with eight markers while Vidovic had seven.
Hangzhou went on to finish the competition as runners-up, with Lugano of Switzerland securing first place after beating their opponents representing China 21-14 in the final.
Miami from the US were classified third, Utrecht from the Netherlands fourth, Chongming from China were fifth, Barcelona from Spain sixth, and Marijampole Mantinga of Lithuania seventh.
The Jakarta event was one of 20 Challenger competitions on the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025.
Top-tier Masters meetings have already taken place in Japan, China, the Netherlands, France, Austria, and Mongolia, and Hong Kong, with others set to be held in Canada, Switzerland, Hungary, China, Macau, and the UAE before heading to Bahrain for the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025 finale, scheduled for November 21 and 22.
Riffa are one of two teams from Bahrain competing in the premier street basketball series, under the banner of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba). Seef are the other.
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