Since its beginning, eleven editions of the World Tour were held. The best players in 3×3 basketball are competing in an international contest for the title of the best team in every season. Many players caught attention with amazing performances and moves which stunned the audience in the stands.
Teams cannot be eliminated from this context since many spectators identify themselves with the club’s philosophies. One team marked the last ten years in this glamorous competition. Ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about Liman from Novi Sad. Let’s dive deep into the history of one of the symbols of the World Tour.
Which season in World Tour was inaugural for guys from Liman?
Bojan Tomasevic, Rajko Radinovic, Aleksandar Petrevski, and Aleksandar Mudrinski formed a quartet that represented Liman at their first-ever Masters held in Prague in the 2014 World Tour.
Liman lost to their compatriots Novi Sad in their debut appearance with 20-17, but gained precious experience and felt the atmosphere of the big tournament for the first time. In the second clash in a group stage, Russian team St. Petersburg won against a team from Novi Sad with 16-15.
After two losses in a pool, Liman was eliminated and ended the competition in 9th place.
How successful was the second Liman’s season in World Tour?
Missing the whole 2015 campaign was followed by Liman’s participation in the 2016 Masters held in the Swiss city Lausanne. Aleksandar Ratkov, Stefan Kojic, Stefan Stojacic, and Marko Brankovic were included in a powerful roster that had the highest ambitions in Switzerland.
Novi Sad’s team victory over Turkish Manisa with 22-7 was followed by a 17-15 win against Polish Gdansk in the second game of the group stage.
Subsequently, Liman defeated Italian team Pavia convincingly with 21-9 in the quarterfinal, but Paris was fatal for Stefan Stojacic and his teammates in the next round with 21-11.
How good were Liman’s performances in World Tour’s third edition?
Following World Tour’s second campaign, team Liman strengthened their squad with new player Mihailo Vasic. The team from Novi Sad aimed to qualify for the Final Masters in 2017 which was planned to be held in the Chinese capital Beijing.
Liman took 5th and 3rd place in the first two Masters they have participated in Saskatoon and Utsunomiya, respectively. Afterwards, they won the first-ever Masters in their history by beating Ljubljana in the final of Debrecen Masters. The good form was confirmed at Mexico City Masters where Liman pulled out a victory over Zemun in the final game.
Qualifying for the Final Masters was a success for this team, so 6th place at Final Masters was not such a big disappointment for Novi Sad’s team.
Which tournaments did Liman win in the 2018 World Tour?
After taking 6th place at a previous edition of the World Tour, guys from Liman wanted to go a few steps further in the 2018 season. Marko Brankovic left the roster, while new member Maksim Kovacevic represented the team in a tournament in Chinese Chengdu.
Spectator’s expectations were met as Masters in Japanese Utsunomiya, Chengdu, and Malaysian Penang were won convincingly. However, the guys were still not good enough and mature to win the Final in Beijing. Riga defeated them in the quarterfinal with 16-13 and crushed their dreams of lifting the trophy.
Which place did Liman take at Final Masters in 2019?
Maksim Kovacevic, Stefan Stojacic, Mihailo Vasic, Aleksandar Ratkov, and Stefan Kojic were players in which their supporters put hope ahead of the start of 2019 Season. Additionally, the roster was strengthened with Peng Yan who is a player with annoying defense and soft jump.
The team only won Debrecen Masters in 2022 beating their rival Riga in the final with 21-18. Finally, Liman took 7th place at Utsunomiya Final losing to the same rival in the quarterfinal with 19-14.
Which players represented the team from Novi Sad in the 2020 World Tour?
The covid-19 pandemic shocked the planet and prolonged the beginning of the prestigious competition, so the list of tournaments was shortened to five Masters. Milan Kovacevic was a new member who appeared in Liman’s roster in a chase for the title.
Kojic, Ratkov, Vasic, and Stojacic were a powerful quartet that led the team from Novi Sad to titles in Debrecen and Europe Masters. The passionate fans were super-exciting toward the start of the final Masters in Jeddah since their favorite players had an excellent regular part of the season.
Unfortunately, the heroes of today’s story fell at the last step, losing in the dramatic final game against Riga with 21-20.
How did the guys from Liman react to a loss in a final?
Following defeat in a super thrilling final against Latvians, the guys from Liman wanted to redeem themselves through new challenges. Fantastic chance was the tenth edition of World Tour as the biggest stars remained in the roster.
Stefan Stojacic, Aleksandar Ratkov, Stefan Kojic, Mihailo Vasic, and Nebojsa Kilijan rotated during the season in which no Masters was won.
However, Liman took part in Final Masters organized in Jeddah, a Saudi Arabian city. Stefan Stojacic and his teammates won against Russian Gagarin and Litvanian Sakiai in the group stage qualifying for the quarterfinal. Guys from Novi Sad found perfect form in the elimination stage where Lausanne, Antwerp, and Gagarin were defeated.
Mihailo Vasic, MVP of Final Masters, led Liman to the trophy surprisingly since they were no favorites for winning the title.
Who are the winning players?
Mihailo Vasic is a real threat under the rim with his strength and athleticism, so opponent players had difficulties guarding him. Stefan Stojacic has natural-born leadership skills and can make crucial assists in deciding moments of the fixtures. Nebojsa Kilijan is well-known for the accuracy of his long-range shots.
Stefan Kojic participated in 1×1 basketball contests and simply his teammates can rely on him during the games. Aleksandar Ratkov was the best player in the FIBA 3×3 rankings and bronze medalist at Olympic Games, so he has experience in winning medals in big tournaments.
How did the play handle the pressure of winning after 2021?
Liman had a fascinating culmination of the 10th edition of the World Tour winning all five games on the road to the title. The guys prepared well for the new campaign and their roster was strengthened by the arrival of Miroslav Pasajlic who came from Ub.
However, the regular part of the season turned out to be relatively successful as guys from Novi Sad won only Utrecht Masters beating team Paris in the final of the tournament.
Qualifying for the Final Masters in Abu Dhabi was something everybody around the time expected, but the facts revealed that those expectations were not justified. Liman finished the Abu Dhabi Final at last 12th place losing both games to Omaha and Vienna.
A poor campaign for heroes of our story after an extremely successful one was a warning for the squad to reconsider some of their tactics and strategies.
Novi Sad, a city in Serbia, is somehow the center of 3×3 and the place where the whole story started. Many successful players in this amazing sport played on the streets of this town when they were young and dreamed big.
Team Liman is in a way a “product” of those desires and every 3×3 star that represented them was passionate, dedicated, and committed on and off the playing ground. The generation from 2021 will always be remembered in the history of the World Tour. Shall future generations repeat that success? We can only wait and see.
[…] Liman pulled out a convincing victory over Gagarin in the fixture for first place with 21-14 for a first title in team’s history. Kojic ended the tournament as the third-placed scorer with 30 points behind Mihailo Vasic and Nick Celis who had 31 and 32 points on their account, respectively. […]