5 Apr 2017
POITIERS (3x3 Europe Cup) – The 24 participating teams (12 men’s and 12 women’s) were divided into 4 pools of 3 after the automatic seeding of the second edition of the 3x3 Europe Cup France Qualifier, which will be staged in Poitiers, France, on 23-24 June.
In a rematch of last year’s France Qualifier final, the French hosts will meet Italy again in Pool D. D like Denmark, who will complete the pool.
In Pool A, World Cup 2016 winners and arch-favourites Serbia will face Slovakia and a Turkish team, which had successful in youth categories on continental level (gold in 2015 and bronze in 2016 at the U18 Europe Cup).
The Netherlands will be the team to beat in Pool B after winning a historic bronze medal at the Europe Cup last year. The Dutchmen will face Croatia and Hungary, a competitive preparation for this year’s edition of the Europe, for which they’re automatically qualified.
Europe Cup 2014 winners Romania are in for a treat in Pool C with both Belgium and Switzerland.
In the women’s category, it won’t be a walk in the park for the French hosts in Pool A against Serbia, who finished 7th at the Europe Cup last year and Israel.
Every team in Pool B reached the Europe Cup last season, starting with Ukraine who reached the quarter-finals. They had even more success at the World Cup, where they won silver. Belgium and Austria will complete the pool.
3x3 World Champions Czech Republic will try to extend their dominance to the Old Continent. Ireland and Poland stand in their way in Pool C.
Last but not least, good luck to Latvia who will have to deal with 2015 European Games winners Russia and World Cup 2016 semi-finalists Spain.
5 men’s teams, meaning the winners of the quarter-finals and the winner of loser’s bracket will qualify for the event.
As Netherlands are automatically qualified as hosts, if they are one of the best 5 teams, then, the next team ranked in the final standings qualifies.
While in women’s, the 6 best teams, meaning the 4 teams that play the quarter-finals and the 2 winners of a loser’s bracket will be qualified for the 3x3 Europe Cup 2017 in Amsterdam on 7-9 July.
Fans can find more information about the event - including the full schedule - on the official competition website and react to the seeding on social media with the hashtag #3x3Europe.
FIBA