BASKETBALL – Bahrain will have two teams flying the kingdom’s flag at home in the highly anticipated season-ending event of the 2025 Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
Series powerhouses Riffa and all-Bahraini debutants Seef have both ensured their places in the Manama Final, scheduled to take place November 21 and 22 at Bahrain Financial Harbour in Manama.
Fiba 3x3 World Tour organisers have confirmed the 14-team roster for the event, which was determined following the last meeting of the campaign in Bucharest prior to Bahrain’s tournament.
Riffa earned their berth after finishing seventh on this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour standings with 446 points, while Seef took their spot as the host wild card.
Riffa will be playing directly in the group stage of the Manama Final, while Seef will need to go through the qualifying draw, which also includes Skyliners from Germany, Partizan from Serbia, and Lugano from Switzerland.
The other nine sides who will be playing in the kingdom as part of the season’s top 10 are Ub from Serbia (985pts), Amsterdam Rabobank from the Netherlands (790pts), Miami from the US (718pts), Chongming from China (545pts), Liman from Serbia (530pts), Raudondvaris Hoptrans from Lithuania (473pts), Toulouse from France (439pts), Hangzhou from China (356pts), and Vienna from Austria (355pts).
Riffa are coming off a strong third-place finish in the Bucharest Masters in Romania, held over the weekend.
They have competed this season with Belgians Dennis Donkor, Jonas Foerts, Vic van Oosterwyck, Andrej Cuyvers, and Caspar Augustijnen, along with Serbian Milos Antic and Bahraini Mohammed Kowayed.
Seef, who were previously on the court in the Abu Dhabi Masters last month, have played with Sayed Mohammed Hameed, Sadeq Shukrallah, Nasser Al Mosawi, Hasan Fahad, and Serbian Bogdan Dragovic. They are still in the hunt for their first-ever victory on the Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
The Manama Final represents the pinnacle of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour’s 2025 season, bringing together the year’s most consistent and dominant teams.
Manama, which has become a favourite destination on the 3x3 calendar, will once again provide a world-class stage for the game’s biggest stars to compete for glory.
It will be the third year in a row that international street basketball’s biggest series will be coming to the kingdom, but the first time the season finale will be held.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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