For the eighth time out of a total of nine editions, the Romanian women’s national team has qualified for the European 3×3 basketball championships.
This weekend, one of the four qualifying tournaments for the 3×3 Europe Cup, which will take place from August 22-25 in Vienna, was held at UNEFS. Romania competed for qualification with both the women’s and men’s national teams, but only the women secured their spot, and they did so without losing a single game. The other teams that secured their places in the continental competition from the Bucharest tournament are Latvia in both women’s and men’s categories (with the Baltic team being Olympic champions) and Great Britain in the men’s category.
Last year, Romania missed out on participating in the 3×3 Europe Cup for the first time in history. However, this negative premiere didn’t turn into a trend thanks to the success of the women’s national team. The squad at UNEFS was composed of Sonia Kim, Teodora Manea, Andreea Mititelu, and Anamaria Vîrjoghe. Kim and Vîrjoghe each scored over 20 points across the four games played, with Sonia scoring 26 and Anamaria 21. Manea and Mititelu also contributed with 14 and 17 points, respectively. In the decisive match that secured their qualification, all four players scored at least 4 points.
The girls began the tournament on Saturday at noon with a dominant victory against Georgia, 20-8. Kim hit three two-pointers in that first match, two more than the entire Georgian team. Their first real test came three hours later against Latvia. The Romanians built a three-point lead at 6-3, which they maintained until the end of the game, winning 16-13. There was one more match to play, and if Romania won, they would top the group and go straight to the decisive game without having to play a playoff match.
Their opponent was Great Britain, a team that had lost to Latvia but crushed Georgia, 22-4. Within 30 seconds, the British team led 3-0. Romania took the lead for the first time at 6-5 after five consecutive points from Andreea Mititelu. From that moment, the Romanians pushed the pace to the maximum and won by a nine-point margin. Mititelu had the most impressive individual performance of the tournament for Romania in this game, scoring nine points.
The European Match
After three games in one day, Romania won their group. They had just one more battle, the most important one, which would decide their qualification for the 3×3 Europe Cup. Great Britain finished third in the group and played a playoff match against Greece, the second-place team from the other group. The British won comfortably, 16-11, setting up a rematch with Romania.
Once again, the British started strong. Their biggest lead was four points, at 6-2. However, the Romanians quickly recovered from their slow start, tying the game at 8 with six and a half minutes remaining. It was a fast-paced beginning with many points. The British took the lead again, extending it to 11-8 after hitting their first two-point shot of the game. Romania increased their defensive intensity, and on offense, their creativity began to shine.
The last time the British led was at 12-11 with 4:41 remaining. From that point on, the opponents scored just six more points, while the Romanians added nine. In the second half of the match, Vîrjoghe, who demoralized the opponents with her height, scored five points. Romania held a one-possession lead at 19-17, and the British forced a desperate two-pointer, but Vîrjoghe’s raised hand made Wilkinson’s shot fall short, only hitting the rim.
Sonia Kim, who had a difficult two-pointer attempt at 19-17 to close out the game, was fouled with six seconds left. She was intentionally sent to the free-throw line, hoping for two misses. The 2016 European silver medalist “finished the job,” in the famous words of Kobe Bryant. Wearing number 24, Kim coolly sank both free throws, sending Romania back to the European Championships after a year’s absence.
The men’s national team, composed of Cristi Mâinea, Aurelian Gavriloaia, Alexandru Coconea, and Marius Ciotlăuș, lost all of their matches, 21-12 against Slovenia, 22-16 to Great Britain, and 21-10 against the Olympic champion, Latvia.
