BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN representatives Riffa were last night crowned champions of the 3x3 International Quest to GRITness basketball tournament, part of the 2025 Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
The one-day event took place in Antwerp, Belgium, and Riffa took the coveted title amongst the 12 teams that participated representing cities from around the world.
Along with the winners’ trophy, Riffa also secured their qualification to the higher-tier Bucharest Masters, to be held on November 8 and 9 in Romania, also as part of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
Riffa competed in yesterday’s competition with their hometown trio of Belgian nationals Dennis Donkor, Jonas Foerts, and Vic van Oosterwyck, along with Serbian Milos Antic.
They secured the crown following a thrilling 22-20 overtime victory against Vienna from Austria. Foerts buried the game-winning two-pointer after Riffa battled back late in the contest to send the clash into the extra session, which was to be decided by the first team to score two points.
In regulation, Riffa were on the verge of a loss after the Austrians moved to game point at 20-18. But Donkor provided some late heroics and buried an off-balance three-pointer to tie, eventually leading to overtime.
Earlier last night in the semi-finals, Riffa had a great start against Bordeaux but the French outfit battled back to take a 13-10 lead. Riffa rallied and back-to-back Antic layups put them up 17-15. A Donkor basket later gave them game point, and then the sharp-shooting 3x3 star sealed their victory with a two-pointer that put them past the 21-point target.
In the quarters, Riffa beat The Embassy 3x3 from Spain 21-16 to set up their head-to-head with Bordeaux. Previously, they split their two games in the tournament’s preliminary round in Pool C – first outclassing Amsterdam West from the Netherlands 22-5 but then losing to Haarlem, also from the Netherlands, 15-17.
The 3x3 International Quest to GRITness marked Riffa’s third event this month on the Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
Following their participation in Antwerp, Riffa will also be taking to the half-court at the Shanghai Masters in China this Saturday and Sunday.
They were originally scheduled to compete in the Mataro Challenger in Spain over the weekend, but their entry in China has been confirmed by Fiba 3x3 World Tour organisers.
The Fiba 3x3 World Tour is the premier street basketball series under the International Basketball Federation (Fiba). Events are of different levels, beginning with lower-tier Lite Quest and Quest competitions, and moving up to Challengers and top-tier Masters events.
Several Masters competitions have already taken place this year in Japan, China, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Canada, Switzerland, and Hungary; with others still to be held in Shanghai and Shenzhen in China; Macau; Abu Dhabi in the UAE; and Bucharest, before heading to Bahrain for the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025 finale this November 21 and 22.
Bahrain had also hosted Manama Masters the past two seasons, and this year will be staging the series’ curtain-closer for the first time.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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