Next week, July 1–2, the 10th stop of the international women’s circuit comes to Circul Metropolitan București. Basketball fans in the capital will get a front-row seat to watch some of the best players on the planet, including two of the top three in the official world rankings. One of them plays for Rapid. From rising stars to proven veterans to players who simply know how to win, here are five names you need to know heading into this tournament.
1. Hortense Limouzin – Rapid
The Frenchwoman is ranked No. 2 in the world, and she’s earned every bit of it. A gold medalist at both the European and World Championships, Limouzin has been suiting up for Rapid since last year, meaning Bucharest fans get to cheer for her as a home player. At the Amsterdam stop, she was the tournament’s top scorer with 31 points, even as Rapid fell to the Netherlands in the final. For context on just how efficient she is: last season she finished second in the circuit’s scoring charts with 181 points, just 21 behind leader Janis Boonstra, who played eight more games.
2. Noortje Driessen – Netherlands
Boonstra may be the one ranked third in the world, but right now the most dangerous player on the Netherlands roster is Noortje Driessen. She took MVP honors in Amsterdam, leads her team in scoring this season, and she’s been to Circul Metropolitan before. She was part of the Dutch U23 side that won bronze here back in 2022. In 2025, she was named MVP at both the European Cup and the World Cup. She arrives in Bucharest in form and with a point to prove.
3. Marie Reichert – Germany
Germany sitting third in the team standings is largely Reichert’s doing. A gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she is Germany’s leading scorer this season and fourth overall in the circuit with 80 points across 15 games. She also leads the entire field in blocks (13) and is one of only two players with multiple buzzer-beaters, she has two. The kind of player who can change a game at both ends.
4. Kamile Nacickaite-van der Horst – Lithuania
At 36, she’s still Lithuania’s primary offensive weapon and the numbers back it up. At the Manila stop, where Lithuania came agonizingly close to winning the tournament, she was the competition’s top scorer with 39 points in just five games. Her trophy cabinet includes a European bronze (2023) and a gold at the 2023 European Games. And there’s a Romanian connection: her 3×3 debut came at the 2021 European qualification tournament held in Constanța.
5. Alina Podar – Team Romania
After a season with Rapid, Podar is now representing the Romanian national tea. And she’s the only Romanian player in the world top 50. With over a decade of 3×3 experience, she’s been flying the Romanian flag since the U18 World Championship in 2015. Her finest hour on the circuit? The 2021 Nations League Final, where she was the top scorer with 31 points in three games, one more than the player who was named tournament MVP. That player was Hortense Limouzin. Full circle.
The FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series stop at the Metropolitan Circus is organized by the City Hall of Sector 2, Bucharest
