BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN representatives Riffa could not make it past the quarter-final stage of the Brasilia Challenger 2025 in Brazil last night.
The event was part of the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025.
The kingdom’s side suffered a narrow 18-19 defeat in the last seconds against Amsterdam Rabobank from the Netherlands in a tightly contested clash in the round of eight.
Riffa led for much of the game and three straight points from Dennis Donkor put them ahead 13-9. Donkor later fired in again from beyond the arc to give Riffa an 18-14 advantage, but their Dutch opponents closed the game strong with a decisive 5-0 rally.
Amsterdam’s Worthy de Jong capped their game-clinching run after being fouled with just 22.9 seconds remaining. He coolly hit his two charity shots, giving his team the 19-18 advantage.
Riffa’s Jonas Foerts then committed a costly turnover on their ensuing possession, and after regaining possession with 2.6s left with a rebound, a desperation heave by Donkor at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
Donkor and Foerts were joined in the tournament by Vic van Oosterwyck and Milos Antic. They had won their two games in the preliminary round against Diadema from Brazil and Lausanne from Switzerland, but then ran into Amsterdam, who are the competition’s number one seeds.
The Brasilia Challenger 2025 wrapped up last night and it acted as a qualifier for the higher-tier Shenzhen Masters, to be held in China on October 4 and 5, also as part of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
The Fiba 3x3 World Tour is the premier street basketball series under the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), which holds events around the world with participating teams representing cities. It will be making a stop in Bahrain for the 2025 season-finale on November 21 and 22.
&uuid=(email))