BASKETBALL – Bahrain representatives Riffa powered into the quarter-finals of the Bordeaux Challenger 2025 in France last night, part of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
The kingdom’s squad secured their place in the tournament’s knockouts after winning their two Pool D games in the preliminary round.
They first edged past Valencia of Spain 22-19 and then claimed a narrow 17-15 victory against London from the US.
Riffa are competing in the event with a quartet consisting of Belgians Dennis Donkor and Vic Van Oosterwyck, Bahraini star Mohammed Kowayed, and newly signed Serbian Milos Antic.
The Bordeaux Challenger acts as a qualifying event for the Shenzhen Masters, set to take place on October 4 and 5 in China.
Riffa’s opponents in today’s round of eight will be the runners-up of Pool B, which features Toulouse of France, Plunge from Lithuania, and Lugano of Switzerland.
Pool A is composed of hosts Bordeaux from France, Ub from Serbia, and Haarlem from the Netherlands, while Pool C comprises Liman of Serbia, Kandava Turiba of Latvia, and Barcelona from Spain.
The semi-finals and final will follow later this evening.
Riffa had a strong start in their opening assignment yesterday against Valencia, who made it into the main draw from the qualifiers.
A Donkor lay-up put them up 7-2, and then he later had two free-throws to make it 14-9.
The Spaniards made a brief surge and a two-pointer from Javier Herrero gave them a 16-15 edge, but Kowayed replied with a driving lay-up.
After Riffa fell behind again, Kowayed fired in a wide-open attempt from beyond the arc to push Riffa ahead 18-17. Donkor then hit another long-range shot to put them on the brink of the win.
He then closed the game out on a two-pointer from the left corner, surpassing the 21-point target, with more than a minute still to play.
In their next outing last night against London, three pressure-packed free-throws from Donkor in the game’s closing seconds helped Riffa come away with their triumph.
They had another good start and built a 10-6 advantage, but the Americans stayed close and an Ashley Hamilton lay-up tied it at 14-all with 22 seconds to play.
That set the stage for two of Donkor’s crucial charity shots, which made it 16-14 and just 13 seconds left.
He then added his third on a split, and an attempt to tie by London’s Ryan Gunnar Langborg came up well short as the final buzzer sounded.
The Fiba 3x3 World Tour is the premier street basketball series under the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), which holds events around the world.
Masters events are the top-tier competitions.
They have already taken place in Japan, China, the Netherlands, France, Austria, and Mongolia, Hong Kong, Canada, and Switzerland, with remaining events in Hungary, China, Macau, and the UAE.
This year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour will then head to Bahrain for the season-finale, scheduled for November 21 and 22.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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