After eleven stages around the world, the grand final of the 3×3 Basketball World Tour is being held this weekend in Abu Dhabi. Who will succeed the Serbs of Liman?
The big moment has arrived ! Seven months and eleven stages after the start of the World Tour of 3×3 basketball, the grand final is being held this weekend in Abu Dhabi, with the twelve best teams in the world at the rendezvous. Starting with the Serbs of Ub, winners of four stages this season and leaders of the general classification, in the wake of their world No. 1 player Strahinja Stojacic. But their compatriots from Liman, winners of the World Tour last year and currently second in the standings (carried by Miroslav Pasajlic), will not be outdone, even if they “only” won the Utrecht stage this year. The Belgians from Antwerp, winners in Debrecen, occupy the third step of the podium. And we must not forget either the Riga team, fourth and led by its Latvian Olympic champions (Karlis Lasmanis and Nauris Miezis in particular), who won the last three World Tour tournaments in which she participated (Montreal, Cebu, Riyadh). A survey of World Tour players also placed Riga in the lead for victory on Sunday (25%), ahead of Ub (23%) and Sakiai (13%).
Watch out for Sakiai
The four best teams in the world have been placed in four different pools, the first two of which will see the quarter-finals, and with the presence of the Lithuanians from Sakiai, winners two weeks ago in Hong Kong and in great shape, the Belgians have may have been the least lucky in the draw. Sports in France (free channel available on channel 174 at Orange and Sosh, channel 192 at Bouygues Télécom, channel 190 at Free and channel 129 at SFR and Red) will broadcast………………………. of this last big event of the season. Apart from the leaders mentioned above, the other teams present in Abu Dhabi are the Dutch from Amsterdam and Utrecht, the Austrians from Vienna, the Mongols from Ulaanbaatar, the Americans from Princeton and Omaha and the Swiss from Lausanne. Unfortunately, no French team managed to qualify for this final in Abu Dhabi, Paris (the best French team) having only finished fifteenth after eleven stages around the world.
Photo credit: FIBA 3×3
