BASKETBALL – Bahrain champions Seef punched their tickets to the quarter-finals yesterday in the Singapore Challenger 2026, part of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2026.
The kingdom’s representatives, who recently captured the title in the Bahrain Summer Tour 2026, continued their fine form overseas and qualified for the tournament’s elite eight in dramatic fashion.
Seef’s quartet of Bogdan Dragovic, Uros Ilic, Austin Ajukwa, and Elyas Younes split their two games in Pool A of yesterday’s preliminary round.
They first lost to world tour powerhouses Amsterdam Rabobank 13-21, but then bounced back with a last-gasp, come-from-behind 17-16 triumph against hosts Singapore – squeezing into the knockouts.
Seef will next be taking on Shanghai from China in the quarters.
Their game is scheduled for a 12.50pm tip-off today, Bahrain time.
In the other quarter-final contests, Amsterdam Rabobank face off with Toronto from Canada, Toulouse from France battle Caloocan from the Philippines, and London from England lock horns with Hangzhou Jingwei from China.
The round of eight gets underway today at 11.20am, to be followed by the semi-finals at 1.30pm.
The final will then be played at 3pm. All times are Bahrain.
Aside from battling for a share of the $60,000 in prize money on offer to the top five teams, Seef are also hoping to qualify for the Malaga Masters in Spain – a top-tier Fiba 3x3 World Tour event scheduled for October 10 and 11. The three best-placed squads will earn their spots in the Malaga showcase.
In Seef’s win yesterday against Singapore, they faced a daunting 12-16 deficit with just under a minute-and-a-half remaining, but big baskets from Dragovic and Ilic, plus the game-winner from Ajukwa in the game’s dying seconds, sealed their stunning result.
Dragovic fired in his crucial basket from beyond the arc to bring Seef to within two, 14-16, and they then held Singapore scoreless on their ensuing two attempts.
Ilic contributed his basket off an offensive rebound from a Dragovic miss, and later regained possession after Singapore’s Zhenyu Ching missed a driving lay-up.
Ilic then orchestrated a pick-and-roll with Dragovic, which led to him passing to a wide open Ajukwa on the right wing.
Ajukwa made no mistake with his game-clinching two-pointer, which swished through the net with four seconds still to play.
Singapore could not get a shot off before time expired and Seef escaped with the victory.
Ilic top scored for the Bahrainis with eight points in the contest, while Dragovic added five and Ajukwa had four. Younes did not score.
Aufa Emil paced the home side with seven markers, while Ching chipped in with five in the loss.
In Seef’s earlier clash against Amsterdam Rabobank, their Dutch rivals used a resounding 7-0 run to turn a close game wide open – stretching their slim 11-10 lead to a commanding 18-10 cushion – and Seef never recovered.
Dragovic, Ilic, and Ajukwa finished with four points apiece while Younes had one.
The Fiba 3x3 World Tour is the premier street basketball series sanctioned by the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), and it features tournaments of various levels held around the world.
Masters events are at the highest tier, followed by Challengers – both of which are fed by qualifiers, which include Super Quest, Quest, and Lite Quest events.
Bahrain has been involved as a host nation on the Fiba 3x3 World Tour in the past three seasons.
In 2023 and 2024, Bahrain hosted the Manama Masters, while last year, the kingdom staged the Fiba 3x3 World Tour Final for the very first time.
The Manama Masters will be returning towards the end of this season for its third edition on November 20 and 21.
Seef are competing on the world tour for the second successive campaign.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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