BASKETBALL – Bahrain teams Riffa and Seef are set to compete side by side for the first time in the 2025 Fiba 3x3 World Tour this weekend.
The kingdom’s representatives are both entered in the Sansar Challenger, to be held tomorrow and Sunday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The event acts as qualifier for the higher-tier Shanghai Masters on this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour, scheduled for September 27 and 28.
The top three teams from the 12 that will feature in the preliminary round will punch their tickets to the China competition.
According to the official teams’ lists, Riffa are competing in Sansar with a quartet that includes Belgian nationals Dennis Donkor, Jonas Foerts, and Vic van Oosterwyck, along with Serbian Milos Antic; while Seef are set to compete with their Bahraini trio of Sayed Mohammed Hameed, Nasser Al Mosawi, and Hasan Fahad, along with Serbian Bogdan Dragovic.
Riffa are in Pool C for tomorrow’s preliminaries along with Carolina from Puerto Rico and one of the two teams who will make it from the qualifying draw.
Seef, meanwhile, are in Pool A along with Miami from the US and Barcelona from Spain.
Pool B is composed of Liman from Serbia, Marijampole Mantinga from Lithuania, and Zavkhan from Mongolia, while Pool D features hometown favourites Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy, Partizan from Serbia, and the second side from the qualifiers.
The qualification draw features six teams, divided into two groups.
Draw A includes Taipei WanBao from Chinese Taipei, Bayankhairhan MIG from Mongolia, and Porto-Novo from Benin, while Draw B is composed of Velizy from France and Mongolian outfits Darkhan and Kharkhorum.
The qualifiers will be held tomorrow morning from 6am, to be followed by the start of pool play. Riffa begin their schedule against the qualifying team at 9.55am before taking on Carolina at 11.40am.
Seef first face Miami at 10.45am and then lock horns with Barcelona at 2.15pm. All times are Bahrain.
Should either Bahraini squad advance, the knockout stages will be held on Sunday.
Riffa head into Sansar having won the 3x3 Morocco Tour – a Quest-level event in Casablanca earlier this week, where Donkor was named the tournament’s best player.
Seef, on the other hand, suffered an early exit from the Debrecen Masters in Hungary.
The Fiba 3x3 World Tour is the premier street basketball series under the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), which holds events around the world with participating teams representing cities.
This year’s calendar will head to Bahrain for the season-finale, scheduled for November 21 and 22.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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