First 3×3 World Cup was held in Athens 10 years ago. It was the first senior national team tournament organized by FIBA in the history of 3×3 basketball.
FIBA 3X3 U17 Europe Cup will be held in the same city on September 2-4. In this competition, players which are going to represent their countries are selected by their national federations.
This is the second time U17 Europe Cup is held. It takes place every year and defending champions are Spain’s women’s squad and Slovenia’s men’s roster.
Group A includes Estonia, Lithuania, and Greece. Estonia left a good impression in qualifications held in Hungary earlier in August. They suffered a 17-15 loss exactly against Lithuania in that qualification in a tight match. Host Greece can be an uncomfortable opponent for them.
Germany, Poland, and Israel are forming group B. Fabian Giessmann, qualifier top scorer will try to lead Germany to the title.
Poland and Israel look hard to beat as they had brilliant performances in another qualification tournament in Voiron, France.
Group C consists of Latvia, France, and Croatia. It’s the “group of death” of the competition due to the quality of every team. Latvia is in good form recently and they are the biggest favorite in the pool. France has a concentration of talent in their squad. Croatia was very convincing in qualifications.
Ukraine, Slovenia, and Turkey are in group D. Ukraine is seed No.4 seed and will clash probably with Slovenia, defending champion, for first place in the group. Turkey is waiting carefully for the opportunity to make a surprise.
The women’s part of draw sounds also very interesting.
Group A includes Germany, Hungary, and Slovenia. Germany is first in the overall ranking so they got the ticket for Europe Cup automatically. Hungary and Slovenia can be big challenges and push Germany to the highest limits of their abilities.
Ukraine, Netherlands, and Sweden are in group B. Ukraine got a spot in Europe Cup due to their ranking. Netherland and Sweden are looking to make an upset. Sweden beat Netherland 17-9 recently, so we can expect a new episode of their rivalry.
Poland, Spain, and Greece are forming group C. Poland convincingly secured a place in Athens through qualifications. The Pool c looks very interesting because Spain comes here as defending champion. Another fact is that Greece is the host and doesn’t plan to give presents to anybody.
Group D consists of Lithuania, France, and the Czech Republic. It’s a group of death in women’s competition because all three teams have been unbeaten in qualifications. We can hope to see big clashes inside this pool.
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