21 Jun 2017
NANTES (FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2017) - Serbia's men and Russia's women struck gold in the fourth edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Nantes, France on June 17-21 2017.
Just 12 days after 3x3 was officially added to Olympic program starting with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Serbia continued their domination of 3x3 with a third world title.
Serbia had a perfect 7-0 record in Nantes, in the picturesque Parc des Chantiers, with Nantes' iconic mechanical elephant transporting hordes of tourists on the horizon.
In the final, Serbia won a thriller against the Netherlands (21-18). Sharpshooter Dejan 'The Maestro' Majstorovic scored a game-high 11 points while his team-mate, number one 3x3 player in the world, Dusan Domovic Bulut added 8.
The Netherlands' marksman Joey Schelvis led the Netherlands with 8 points, while big man Bas 'The Mountain' Rozendaal had 5 and lefty Jesper Jobse contributed 4 points.
France wowed the crowd in the bronze-medal game after a nail-biting 18-17 success against reigning European champions Slovenia.
The Netherlands star Jobse joined the Serbian one-two punch Bulut-Majstorovic on the Team of the Tournament.
'The Maestro' topped all scorers in Nantes and was named MVP.
In the women's category, Russia finished the event undefeated and dominated Hungary (19-12) in the final.
Anna Leshkovtseva and Anastasia Logunova had a team-high 6 points in the final. Tatiana Petrushina added 4 and Aleksandra Stolyar netted 3 points in a one-sided affair.
Bettina Bozoki had a game-high 7 but none of her team-mates contributed more than 2 points, just a few moments after Alexandra Theodorean scored an unbelievable buzzer-beater in a semi-final win against Ukraine.
Ukraine redeemed themselves in the bronze-medal game with a 15-13 victory over the Netherlands.
Leshkovtseva was named MVP and was joined by Bozoki and the Netherlands' Karin Kuijt in the Team of the Tournament.
Nine more medals were handed out by FIBA officials - including FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann and FIBA Vice-President Hamane Niang - in the individual contests.
Claudia Brunet made history for Andorra by winning the skills contest. The Netherlands' Kuijt earned silver while Japan's Yui Hanada collected bronze on her birthday.
Crowd favorite Tsagarakis took home gold in the shoot-out contest. Schelvis earned the Netherlands' a third silver medal at the event and last year's FIBA 3x3 World Cup MVP Michaela Uhrova (Czech Republic) won bronze.
The dunk contest competition featured an all-time record 5 professional dunkers and Poland's Rafal 'Lipek' Lipinski struck gold with a series of dazzling slams, including a jam over 7 people. Chris Staples (USA) won silver while Vadim 'Miller' Piddubchenko (Ukraine) earned a bronze medal.
Final standings of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2017
Men
1. Serbia
2. Netherlands
3. France
4. Slovenia
5. Ukraine
6. Qatar
7. USA
8. Russia
9. Puerto Rico
10. Poland
11. Philippines
12. Romania
13. Andorra
14. Estonia
15. New Zealand
16. Indonesia
17. South Korea
18. Egypt
19. El Salvador
20. Sri Lanka
Women
1. Russia
2. Hungary
3. Ukraine
4. Netherlands
5. Italy
6. Switzerland
7. Czech Republic
8. Spain
9. Australia
10. France
11. Argentina
12. Germany
13. Japan
14. Andorra
15. Kazakhstan
16. Turkmenistan
17. China
18. Venezuela
19. Bahrain
20. Kyrgyzstan
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ABOUT FIBA 3x3
Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world’s number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.
It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly city-based FIBA 3x3 World Tour (www.fiba.basketball/3x3worldtour) and national-team FIBA 3x3 World Cup.
On June 9 2017, 3x3 was addded to the Olympic Program, starting from the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Nike is FIBA 3x3's Founding Partner.
FIBA 3x3 events are played on Sport Court's floors with Schelde backstops and benefit from Wilson's innovative and specially-made ball for 3x3.
For further information about 3x3, visit fiba3x3.com, FIBA 3x3 accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube or contact 3x3@fiba.com.