Fans of a tremendously exciting game called 3×3 basketball can enjoy every year’s World Tour from 2012. It is the most prestigious FIBA club competition and it’s having its 11th edition this season. We are talking about a spectacular event that gathers high media attention and involves high-quality teams from all over the world.
FIBA World Tour is organized perfectly with great prizes and awards for teams and players individually. Marketing and promotion of this event have evolved drastically a lot over years and it’s attracting new and new spectators. Let’s dive into the history of the World Tour in the next couple of paragraphs and find out who were the winners in each season.
How did the first season of the World Tour go?
2012 World Tour marked its first edition and it featured 6 events: an opening tournament in Sao Paulo, Vladivostok, New York, Istanbul, Madrid, and Miami Final.
Argentinian Neuquen won the Sao Paulo Masters, Russian Vladivostok triumphed as host in the second Masters, American team Denver took victory in New York, Lithuanian Vilnius was victorious in Istanbul, and Croatian Split was a winner in Madrid.
Miami Masters was the culmination of the season where teams that showed the most throughout the season decided who is the best in that season. There were two groups of six teams where the first-placed team qualified for the semifinals. In the quarterfinals, the second-placed from pool A played against the third-placed team in pool B and vice versa.
Split won against Ljubljana with 12-9, while San Juan beat Edmonton with 19-17 in the semifinals. Puerto Rican team San Juan pulled out a 20-16 victory over Split in the final game and lifted the trophy.
Who was the winner of the 2013 season of the World Tour?
The 2013 season contained six events: Tokyo, San Juan, Prague, Lausanne, Rio de Janeiro, and Istanbul.
Jakarta from Indonesia was best in Tokyo, NY Staten was a first-placed team in the Puerto Rican city San Juan, Serbian Novi Sad had glory in the capital of the Czech Republic, Slovenian team Kranj beat competition in Lausanne, Caracas from Venezuela obtained victory in the second-most-populous city in Brazil.
Bucharest, Kranj, Novi Sad, Saskatoon, Caracas, Nagoya, Brezovica, and Caddebostan were in the quarterfinals in Istanbul. Novi Sad defeated Kranj in the semifinal, while Slovenian team Brezovica did the same thing to Caracas in another semifinal clash. Finally, Brezovica triumphed over Novi Sad with 19-13 in the biggest game of 2013 and won the competition.
What happened in World Tour’s third season?
The number of Masters in one season grew as time went on, so we had six Masters in the 2014 season. Those were: Manila, Beijing, Chicago, Prague, Lausanne, and Rio de Janeiro.
The season opener in the Philippines was won by team Manila West, Chinese Wukesong was victorious in Beijing, Canadian Saskatoon was successful in Chicago, Serbian Novi Sad made it all the way in Prague, Slovenian team Trbovlje had moments of glory in Lausanne, Sao Paulo triumphed in their country in Rio de Janeiro.
For the first time, Final Masters contained four groups of three teams. Two teams with the best ranking in each pool proceeded to the quarterfinals in a tournament in Tokyo.
Novi Sad pulled out a 22-13 victory over Kranj in the semifinal, while Saskatoon defeated Bucharest with 19-16. Serbian teams easily beat Saskatoon in the game for the title with 21-11.
Despite the loss against Denver in the first round of the group stage, Dejan Majstorovic and his teammates recovered and won the Final Masters with style.
How did Novi Sad cope with the burden of winning trophies?
World Tour continued to have six Masters in 2015 and the host cities of those tournaments were Manila, Prague, Beijing, Lausanne, Mexico, and Rio de Janeiro.
Novi Sad stayed on the winning course after they won their first Masters in Manila. Kranj was the winning team in Prague, Qatar team Doha celebrated victory in Beijing, a tournament in Lausanne was won by Vilnius, Denver became champion in Mexico, and Novi Sad confirmed in Rio de Janeiro that they are the biggest candidates for first place in 2015 World Tour.
The format of the Abu Dhabi Final Masters was like the one in 2014. The semifinals were super – exciting as Kranj won against NY Harlem with 21-19, while Novi Sad beat Trbovlje with 16-14. Novi Sad defeated Kranj in the final game with 17-14 with MVP Dusan Bulut in their squad.
What occurred in the 2016 World Tour?
There was a change in the number of events in the World Tour, so we saw seven Masters tournaments in the fifth edition: Mexico City, Utsunomiya, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Beijing, and Americas.
Mexico Masters was conquered by Puerto Rican team Caguas, Novi Sad triumphed in Utsunomiya, Ljubljana won the trophy in Prague, Saskatoon was successful in Lausanne, Serbian Novi Sad was first-placed in Debrecen and Beijing, and Americas Masters was a place where Chicago celebrated victory.
Spectators expected a spectacular culmination of the season in Abu Dhabi Final and they got it. Japanese team Hamamatsu passed obstacles Chicago and Novi Sad on the road to the final game. On the other side, Ljubljana was superior against the Slovenian team Piran and Kaguas.
Ljubljana defeated Hamamatsu in the game for the title with 21-12. Jasmin Hercegovac, the Ljubljana player, scored fascinating 50 points in the final tournament and got the MVP award.
What are the highlights of the 2017 World Tour?
The sixth edition of the World Tour included eight events: Saskatoon, Utsunomiya, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Chengdu, Mexico City, and Beijing Final.
Ljubljana continued its winning streak in Saskatoon. Novi Sad was victorious in Utsunomiya, Prague, and Lausanne. Another Serbian team Liman conquered Debrecen and Mexico City. Chengdu was won by Piran.
Novi Sad defeated Liman and Piran in the title hunt in Beijing Final and Zemun was successful against Ljubljana and Riga. The final game was super-thrilling with Zemun pulling out a 19-17 victory over Novi Sad.
Here is a fascinating winning shot from Bogdan Dragovic in the final game:
Which team was the winner of the World Tour’s seventh season?
The 2018 World Tour had expansion from eight to ten events, so fans could see more exciting fixtures. The locations were: Saskatoon, Utsunomiya, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Mexico City, Hyderabad, Chengdu, Penang, and Beijing Final.
Novi Sad was a winner of Saskatoon, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, and Hyderabad. Their Serbian rivals Liman lifted the trophy in Utsunomiya, Chengdu, and Penang. Ljubljana was victorious in Mexico City.
Dusan Bulut’s Novi Sad had an unbelievable 32-0 run and convincingly won the Beijing final with a 20-18 win over Letonian Riga. The Serbian team fell short in the previous season, but they rose from the ashes and set a record of 32 victories. This year will hardly be forgotten in the heads of passionate 3×3 fans.

How did Novi Sad handle the pressure of winning in the next season?
Spectators could see 11 masters in the World Tour’s eighth edition and those were: Doha, Chengdu, Mexico City, Saskatoon, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Montreal, Los Angeles, Nanjing, and Jeddah.
Riga sealed the victory in Doha, Prague, and Jeddah. Novi Sad had moments of fame in Chengdu and Mexico City.
Liman was successful in Debrecen, Piran won the Saskatoon, NY Harlem overcame all obstacles in Lausanne, Lithuanian team Sakiai lifted the trophy in Montreal, American team Princeton had unforgettable performance in Los Angeles, and Chinese team Nanjing took the victory in the city with the same name.
Everybody was expecting Final Masters in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya to see whether Novi Sad will continue their domination or a new name will ascend the throne. Novi Sad eliminated compatriots Liman and Latvian Riga before they defeated Princeton in the final with 21-17.
What was the outcome of the 2020 season?
The pandemic made things tough in 2020, so only five tournaments were played that year. Three Masters were held from August 29th till September 5th and those were: Debrecen, Hungary, and Europe. The competition in Doha was played in November, while Final Masters in Jeddah took place in December.
Riga and Liman were dominating that season and every spectator practically bet after the first Masters that one of those two teams will lift the trophy in Saudi Arabia in the last month of the year. Liman was victorious in Debrecen and Europe, while Riga took victory in Hungary and Doha.
Those two teams played an incredible final game of the Jeddah Final which was a classic thriller. Nauris Miezis, a Riga player, hit a long-range shot and buzzer beater for a 21-20 victory and a trophy in the pandemic year.
Which teams were playing in the final of the 2021 World Tour?
The 10th edition of the World Tour included eight events: Doha, Lausanne, Debrecen, Montreal, Prague, Abu Dhabi, Mexico City, and the Jeddah final.
Doha was won by Dutch team Amsterdam, Lausanne was the lucky destination for San Juan, and Serbian team Ub took victory in Debrecen and Montreal. Jeddah triumphed in Prague, and Riga conquered Abu Dhabi and Mexico City.
Liman players were devastated after missing a chance in the 2020 final against Riga. They were lacking one ball to finish the job, but eventually, the trophy went to Latvia. Tournament in Jeddah was an opportunity for redemption and it was taken completely. Serbian guys won against Russian team Gagarin with 21-14 and for the first time in history became champions.
World Tour is a really special event in heart of every true spectator of 3×3 basketball. It deservedly took that place since it caused a lot of joy, happiness, worries, and fears in the soul of every fan throughout history of this game.
Novi Sad roster from 2018 with Dusan Bulut, Marko Savic, Tamas Ivosev, and Dejan Majstorovic is written with golden letters in the book of records. We have to be patient to see whether another successful team like Novi Sad will be seen. Until that moment, let’s enjoy in presence.
[…] players in white jerseys defeated compatriots Princeton with 21-15 and grabbed the first major tournament for USA’s teams since […]