BASKETBALL – Serbian powerhouses Ub were last night crowned champions of the Manama Final, thus ending a sensational season as the number one team on the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025.
The two-day event came to a thrilling close in front of a packed and rocking crowd at a purpose-built half-court at Bahrain Financial Harbour in the heart of the kingdom’s capital.
Ub secured their crown after defeating Raudondvaris Hoptrans from Lithuania 20-16 in a thrilling title-decider.
In attendance during last night’s events were Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Tourism Minister and Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority chairperson Fatima Al Sairafi, International Basketball Federation (Fiba) secretary general Andreas Zagklis, Fiba 3x3 director Alex Sanchez, and a number of other high-ranking officials.
The Manama Final took place under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman, and BOC president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
“We are very happy to have had the final of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025 here in Bahrain,” Shaikh Isa told the GDN last night after awarding Ub with their winners’ trophy following their win against Raudondvaris.
“As you can see, the high attendance of families and fans really gives us big confidence that this is a successful event, and we would like to congratulate Ub who have won.
“We are very happy as a local organising committee to see the results of this tremendous occasion. We thank all the teams here in Bahrain and it was really a spectacular night, and we are very happy with the results.”
Ub’s Strahinja Stojacic, who was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both the Manama Final and of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour, expressed his delight with their triumph to close out a dominant season.
“We didn’t start the year the way we wanted to, but we believed in each other and after the first few tournaments, we started to play our game,” Stojacic – nicknamed ‘Doctor Strange’ due to his close resemblance to the actor who plays the popular comic book character – told the GDN. “We won six Masters in a row, and we finished this season with a great result in the final.
“The 14 best teams in the world were here in Manama, and we expected every game to be interesting and tough. With how we played on the court, I hope the fans enjoyed watching us at the venue.”
The Manama Final featured plenty of festivities both on and off the basketball court, with families getting to enjoy plenty of colourful attractions on the sidelines in addition to the high-level of 3x3 basketball.
In other action yesterday, Jonas Foerts from Bahrain representatives Riffa won the shoot-out contest and Joel Henry took the dunk contest prize.
In yesterday’s concluding day games of the Manama Final, Ub began the knockout stages with a slim 16-15 victory over Amsterdam Rabobank. They thus set up a semi-final clash with Skyliners from Germany, who defeated Miami from the US 21 -19 in another quarters affair.
Elsewhere in the elite eight, Hangzhou from China beat Toulouse from France 21-14, while Raudondvaris broke Bahrain’s hearts by eliminating Riffa 21-15.
In the last four, Ub were too much for Skyliners, winning 22-16, while Raudondvaris enjoyed a 21-17 triumph over Hangzhou.
Both teams then started off the final attacking the paint in what was a hugely physical battle. Ub were in control early on and Nenad Nerandzic made it 8-4 halfway into the contest.
It was around then that the pace picked up, with Ub and Raudondvaris trading jabs. The shots started to fall more consistently for the Lithuanians, who made a late comeback.
But Ub stayed a step ahead, and clutch baskets along with timely stops gave them an insurmountable lead with only seconds to go.
They eventually closed the game out with the four-point winning margin as time expired.
Nerandzic scored 10 points to pace Ub in the final, while Stojacic had five, Nemanha Barac added four, and Marko Brankovic scored one point.
Three players had five points apiece for Raudondvaris, including Paulius Beliavicius, Evaldas Dziaugys, and Aurelijus Pukelis.
Along with the winners’ trophy, Ub also came away with $60,000 in prize money from the total purse of over $200,000.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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