BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN representatives Riffa finished an impressive third overall yesterday in the Shenzhen Masters in China, held as part of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
The kingdom’s side made it through to the tournament’s semi-final stage but lost to eventual champions Ub from Serbia 17-21 in a thrilling encounter. They had earlier outclassed Vienna from Austria 22-13 in the quarters held earlier in the day.
Riffa thus claimed their place on the competition’s final rankings in third. They had a better points total of 80 from all their games as compared to the other losing semi-finalists, Samobor from Croatia, who had 77 and were fourth overall.
Ub defeated Raudondvaris Hoptrans from Lithuania 22-19 in an exciting title-decider to claim first.
Ranked fifth through 12th, respectively, on the classification were Toulouse from France, Partizan from Serbia, Vienna, Amsterdam Rabobank from the Netherlands, Chongming from China, Valencia from Spain, and Shanghai and Hangzhou, both from China.
The Shenzhen Masters was the latest top-tier event on this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour, which is the premier street basketball series under the International Basketball Federation (Fiba).
Riffa competed in the event with their quartet of Belgians Dennis Donkor, Jonas Foerts, and Vic van Oosterwyck, along with Serbian Milos Antic.
With third place, the Bahraini outfit pocketed $22,000 in prize money. Ub collected $40,000 as champions, while Raudondvaris Hoptrans took home $30,000 as runners-up. Fourth to seventh also came away with prize money.
In Riffa’s loss to Ub, they trailed 2-7 early on but then three straight points from Donkor and an Antic steal that led to a Foerts two-pointer put them up 8-7. After Ub replied and Van Oosterwyk had a basket, the Serbians went on a game-changing 6-0 run for a 14-9 advantage.
Two Antic free-throws brought Riffa back to 14-18 and later Foerts was on target from beyond the arc to get within 17-19. But Marko Brankovic fired in a contested two-pointer to give Ub the 21-point target, sealing their victory and berth in the final.
Donkor finished the game with six points to lead Riffa, while Foerts had five, Antic four, and van Oosterwyck two. Brankovic led the Serbians with 12.
In the quarters, after Vienna tied it at 11-apiece, Riffa closed things out with an 11-2 run Donkor scored eight in the win while Antic had six, Foerts five, and van Oosterwyck three. Nico Kaltenbrunner scored six points to pace the Austrians.
Four more Masters events are to be held before the Fiba 3x3 World Tour visits the kingdom for the curtain-closing Manama Final, scheduled for November 21 and 22.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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