Tag: 3×3 basketball

With man down since the group stage, Riga Ghetto Basket scores a 3-men win at Bucharest Challenger and secures maiden World Tour Masters appearance

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“We won the Bucharest Challenger and qualified for the Masters in Luasanne. We’re all in pain, but that’s what happened here. It’s a huge joy, you’ve seen the celebration. We also had chance on our side, it was fantastic” an ecstatic Agnis Cavars revealed, just seconds after the icon University Square in Bucharest witnessed four Latvians unleash. They screamed their hearts out, jumped like crazy and then collapsed on court, as if they were about to draw their pairs of wings, just like children do in the snow. Riga Ghetto…

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Romania’s Big 3. Bucharest Legends take on the world’s 3×3 giants

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Those are players who have carried Romanian basketball on their shoulders for the last two decades, at the highest level, whether they were playing for the national team or at club level. Virgil Stănescu is the most iconic Romanian basketball player since 1989, having put together good seasons in the most powerful European championships and served as captain for the national team for almost two decades. Paul Helcioiu, winner of the FIBA Eurochallenge Cup back in 2005 with Asesoft Ploiești, was also a key-player for Romania’s national team. Mihai Paul…

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Sent by the Gods of Athens: Don Poly makes its Challenger debut in Bucharest

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Greece sends a team to Bucharest Challenger for the first time. From the City of Gods right to “Kilometer Zero” of the Romanian Capital, here come three Greeks and one Serbian guy! Petros Melissaratos, Nikos Tsiokos and Thanasis Chanias-Pantazis, ranked 5th, 6th and 7th among Greek 3×3 players, competed all four tournaments in 2017 alongside Serbia’s Alexander Stevovic, who’s got a 5×5 pro basketball contract in Greece. Don Poly arrives in Bucharest after a first World Tour appearance in Prague (12th place) and three podium finishes in as many tournaments…

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The boys from Piter set to bring their opponents bitter days at Bucharest Challenger

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At first glance, BM-18 appers to be a team put together in a hurry. Igor Medyntcev and Shalva Shatashvili are the two players constantly enrolled in 2017 tournaments as part of the team, but they as well have migrated to other quartets. Nikolai Shangychev is, without doubt, the most important transfer, while Alex Abrikosov will play for the first time under this name. It is from this difficult to manage situation that Abrikosov, who in the past has brought one of Russia’s two 3rd place finishes at Bucharest Challenger, will…

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Bordeaux BALListik elite troops target Bucharest Challenger success

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The sixth largest metropolitan area in France sends its BALListik elite troops to Bucharest Challenger. The mission: to make a name for Bordeaux – other than the home of fine wines. The four “Bordelais” come to Bucharest in an unusual formula: Eddy Steiner, the shortest of the French players, only 1.81 m, sets the traditional core with Charles Albert. The two made a first appearance on the FIBA World Tour last year in Debrecen with a 11th place finish and were forced to recruit two new teammates, as Alex Vialaret…

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Red-hot 3×3 basketball: a former town-hero returns and wins Visit Oradea Streetball

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While the weather went from one extreme to the other, with hot temperatures followed by heavy storm, the action was pretty straight-forward on the playgrounds at Visit Oradea Streetball. Serbia’s Dzakovi 3×3, led by former CSM Oradea star Djordjo Djordjic, dominated the competition from start to finish. Even fellow countrymen in Extra Auto Vrbas could not stand in Dzakovi 3×3’s way, even though they flew in with a future contender in America’s University Championship. Dzakovi 3×3 won the final 21-12 and finished the tournament with all matches won before the…

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Georgia’s “Old School”: four Goliaths shadow rivals at Bucharest Challenger

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Tbilisi sends its own “Old School” to Bucharest Challenger, to compete with Bogdan Sandu & Co, aka Romania’s “Old School”. Even though they have not played together all the time this season, the four basketball players coming to Bucharest via Istanbul have a fantastic record in the season: they have never failed to reach the semis in any of the tournaments they have signed in for and the team is now on a roll, with three consecutive wins – including the 2017 3×3 finale in Georgia. Richard Matiashvili has no…

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Bucharest Littles, the new kids on the block trying to make a name for themselves against giants at Bucharest Challenger

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Bucharest Littles, the team that won the U23 category at the first European 3×3 basketball league (3×3 Veranda League by Fitbit), is testing the ground and trying to measure up to the “top guns” at Bucharest Challenger. Still working on making the full transition between junior and Open senior competitions, the former Romanian 3×3 junior national team players are hungry for results and experience. Alexandru Coconea, the Mainea twins (Ștefan-Daniel and Cristian) and Luca Paraschiv team up in an unusual formula, before joining their  5×5 League teams for the new…

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Visit Oradea Streetball, the teams’ last chance to secure tickets for the Sport Arena Streetball Tour final

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Visit Oradea Streetball expects over 200 players at the start of the competition set for this weekend, Saturday and Sunday. This is the last stop in the 3×3 Sport Arena Streetball Tour 2017. The tournament, hosted by Unirii Square, near the Moon Church landmark, offers the teams one last chance to qualify for the grand finale which is to be held in Bucharest, August 19th and 20th. MMA fighter Sandu Lungu will test his basketball qualities at Visit Oradea Streetball during the Saturday evening session, as a special guest to…

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C’mon, Zemun! Serbia’s shot at Bucharest Challenger: they’ve taken down both Novi Sad and Ljubljana in 2017 finals

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Serbia, the strongest nation in the 3×3 FIBA World Federation Rankings, sends eight players altogether for the Bucharest Challenger (August 12-13). Yet, with Novi Sad Al Wadha playing for the United Arab Emirates, only four of them will fly the Serbian flag. Together, they are Zemun. When it comes to men’s 3×3 basketball, Serbia’s supremacy is quite impressive: the leading nation has almost twice as many points as the 4th ranked Netherlands and about 5 million points more than 2nd  place, Slovenia (based on the individual points won by each…

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