The 3×3 basketball marathon at Circul Metropolitan ended on Sunday evening after five days of competition. Florentin Petre, Dănciulescu and Prunea were also among the protagonists on the basketball court and cheered on Romania’s national teams from the stands.
At the youth level, in the FIBA 3×3 Nations League, the Romanian teams managed several spectacular wins, while in the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series, the professional women’s competition, Rapid București reached the top four teams. The tournaments were organized by the City Hall of Sector 2 Bucharest as part of the “Sectorul 2 – Sectorul Sportului” series of sports events, which also included community activities and competitions between June 26 and 30.
Special guests at Romania’s Saturday matches in the FIBA 3×3 Nations League, Florentin Petre, Florin Prunea and Cătălin Munteanu also took to the court as part of the acrobatic basketball show put on by the Face Team troupe.
“It was my dream as a kid to take up basketball, except I stayed short and took up football instead,” joked Florentin Petre, who went out onto the court alongside his former Dinamo teammates and cheered on Romania’s youth national teams from the stands.
Following the senior national team’s historic win over Greece in Oradea, in the qualifiers for the 5×5 World Cup, their younger teammates from the U21 3×3 national team also managed a win over the Greeks.
Ionel Dănciulescu was also present at Circul Metropolitan on Sunday, delivering the opening pass of the Romania – France women’s match. The Romanian team lost that match 7-21, after earlier beating England 21-10.
Romania sits in fourth place in both the men’s and women’s standings after the first three stages of the Europe Conference 3.
Spain victorious in Bucharest, Rapid reach the semifinals
Spain’s team won the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Bucharest and claimed a check worth 14,000 dollars. The Spaniards beat Lithuania 15-10 in the final. In the hybrid competition, which features both national teams and private or club teams, Rapid București lost in the semifinals to Lithuania, 19-13 in favor of the Baltic team.
Hortense Limouzin, the France national team star who plays for Rapid, celebrated her birthday right on the basketball court at the Circus. She was the competition’s third top scorer, with 28 points.
Show on the court, community activities in the fan zone
The five days of nonstop entertainment at Circul Metropolitan București were rounded out by acrobatic basketball demonstrations from the Face Team troupe from Hungary, which also included a few magical moments synchronized with 3D projections.
Performers from the Metropolitan Circus took the stage on their home turf and delivered unforgettable sequences from the shows the Bucharest institution hosts throughout the season, while the Contessina, Drag de Măgurele and iSports Dancers dance troupes filled the breaks between matches.
Britain’s Joel “The Royal Guard” Henry won the slam dunk contest held on Saturday evening. He beat Jeremiah “Skywalker” Walker in the final with a series of stratospheric dunks. Cassidy Leishman finished third.
Basketball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, gaming, as well as a series of games and contests gave spectators at the circus just as many ways to spend their free time throughout days packed with sport, both on the main court and in the fan zone.
A unique experience for amateur basketball players
Ahead of the international 3×3 basketball competitions hosted by Circul Metropolitan, matches from the BCR Sport Arena Streetball series were scheduled, giving amateur players the chance to compete under the conditions of a top-level professional tournament. “It’s an experience I think you can only have once in a lifetime, playing in an arena like that,” said one of the participants. Players were introduced NBA style, with music, a light show and 3D projections on the playing surface.
The FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series and the FIBA 3×3 Nations League were organized by the City Hall of Sector 2 Bucharest as part of the “Sectorul 2 – Sectorul Sportului” series of events and supported by BCR, Mastercard, Regina Maria, BCR Leasing, Nike, the Romanian Basketball Federation, Club Sportiv Oxigen București and World Class. The event’s official radio station was Kiss FM.
