Season debut at Wizz Air Sport Arena Streetball

Wizz Air Sport Arena Streetball, main 3×3 basketball championship from Romania, started last weekend in Bucharest, with over 170 teams and more than 700 players ready to take off from the streets to the Olympics.

It was a stormy start of the ninth season, with the windy and rainy weather playing hide-and-seek with the organizers, but in the end basketball was the big winner and everybody celebrated the return of the 3×3 basketball in their lives, after almost seven months.

The four Sport Arena Courts, from University of Politehnica Bucharest were packed with people since the early morning hours, when kids from U14 categories hit the court, closely watched and cheered by their parents, until late in the night, when the elite teams put up a big show.

Part of the qualifying system of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour, Wizz Air Sport Arena Streetball gathered some of the best 3×3 players from Romania, two of them who were present last year in Miami for FIBA 3×3 World Tour Final, Catalin Vlaicu and Sergiu Souca.

It was the start of a road who can end up this year in Istanbul, the host of the 2013 FIBA 3×3 World Tour Final, but, even more important, a road who can end up in Rio 2016, at the Olympic Games, as the International Olympic Committee will decide this year in august if 3×3 basketball will be part of the Games.

“Sport Arena Streetball built in the past nine years a real phenomenon here in Romania and now these guys are world known for their job. Also the Romanian players proved last year that they can have a big success on the basketball court and I really hope that also in 2013 the Romanian teams will perform well internationally. What Sport Arena Streetball has done it’s an example to follow and the fact that some kids will be able, in the future, to play 3×3 basketball at the Olympics it’s also their merit”, said Virgil Stanescu, former national team captain.

More than 3.000 people watched the games during the three day competition and they enjoyed every  moment,. And it was not only about basketball games. Skills contests, three point shootouts, non-stop music, special side-events completed the picture of a perfect weekend.

And on the top of all, and we are not speaking figuratively, was the best Romanian trial biker, Orban Gabor, a big fan of 3×3 basketball, who combined biking and basketball in a unique show.

Now, that our first tournament is in the books, we are preparing for the biggest 3×3 event that Romania ever hosted, the second tournament of Wizz Air Sport Arena Streetball who will be part of the FIBA Europe 3×3 EuroTour with special guests from FIBA and IOC.

The whole scenario is prepared for a breathtaking weekend, June 21-23, in front of a breathtaking building, The Palace of Parliament, the largest civilian building in the world.

 

Related posts

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.