FIBA World Tour became a tremendously exciting competition between the best 3×3 teams on the planet. They are competing since 2012 for the title of the best team in the Final Masters, the culmination of the season. Serbian Ub is the current champion and some of the best 3×3 players in the world are playing there.
One of them is Marko Brankovic, a 28-year-old star from Serbia. He has had a very interesting career so far, also playing for the Serbian national squad and winning gold medals. Let’s look at his interesting 3×3 CV in the next couple of paragraphs. Tune in, and we start.
Where did Marko play first in his 3×3 career?
Our hero of today’s story Marko Brankovic was part of strong Liman’s squad for the 2016 campaign. Also, Aleksandar Ratkov, Stefan Kojic, and Stefan Stojacic were on the powerful roster. They were aiming to win at least one title at Masters, the biggest tournaments in World Tour.
However, the situation didn’t go as expected as the guys from Novi Sad reached only one semifinal that year. Liman beat Turkish Manisa and Polish Gdansk in the pool stage to proceed to the elimination stage.
Eventually, Paris convincingly defeated Stefan Kojic and his friends with 21-11 in the semis.
How successful was Marko in his second campaign on World Tour?
Mihailo Vasic was reinforcement to the Liman’s roster ahead of the start of the 2017 season. Mihailo’s arrival was a huge boost to the squad which wanted to redeem itself for the poor previous campaign. The first – ever trophy for the team from Novi Sad came in the Debrecen Masters where they were too strong for Ljubljana in the final. Subsequently, Mexico Masters was won in a superior manner.
Qualifying for the Final Masters held in Chinese Beijing was an improvement for Brankovic and his teammates, even though 6th place didn’t quite satisfy the spectator’s appetites.
Where did Marko Brankovic play after his experience in Liman?
Following two seasons spent in Liman, Marko Brankovic made deal with Avai just before the beginning of the 2018 season. Marko Brankovic, Strahinja Stojacic, Stefan Sinovec, and Filip Simic were players who represented this team in World Tour’s seventh edition.
The hero of our story was brought to the roster to improve the accuracy of the team’s long-range shots.
The first and only challenge for Avai was Debrecen Masters where they finished the group stage with a 1-1 score.
Unfortunately, Marko’s team lost against Riga in the quarterfinal and ended the competition in 7th place.
How good was his team in the next season?
After a successful debut for team Avai, Marko Brankovic turned his attention to new challenges in the 2019 campaign. The team started to perform under the name Vrbas and competed in Saskatoon Masters. Progress was seen in their performances as they reached the final in Canada.
Ending the group stage with one victory and one defeat was enough for qualifying for the Top 8 phase. Vrbas shocked favorites and compatriots Liman in the quarterfinal with 21 -17 and later Dutch Amsterdam on their road to the final.
Eventually, Marko Brankovic was beaten by the Slovenian Piran with 21-14.
How did Brankovic’s team react to the loss against Piran in 2019?
Miroslav Pasajlic substituted Danilo Mijatovic in the roster and Vrbas changed his name to Ub due to World Tour’s official propositions. Marko Brankovic, Strahinja Stojacic, and Ivan Popovic were the other three members of the team.
Ub had very good performances during the Hungary Masters where they played a game for first place against Latvian Riga. After a super-thrilling clash, they lost 21-20 and their dream of the first trophy in the club’s history was crushed.
Later, Marko Brankovic and his teammates participated in Final Masters in Jeddah taking 7th place.
How did Ub’s roster look like in 2021?
Legends Dejan Majstorovic and Marko Savic came to the roster and strengthened the team Ub ahead of the start of the 2021 season. Marko Brankovic got experienced colleagues and, for the first time, Ub could even think about the title.
One of the most important tournaments in the club’s history was held in Debrecen because they won it defeating Riga in the final with 21-19. The trophy in Hungary pushed guys from Serbia to give another big performance in Montreal. Taking victory in Canada raised expectations of their supporters before the start of the Final Masters in Jeddah.
Unfortunately, Belgian Antwerp surprised a little bit Marko and teammates and beat them in quarters with 19-16.
How did Marko Brankovic handle the pressure of winning in 2022?
After one season spent in Ub, Marko Savic left the squad and Nemanja Barac took his place. Nemanja is also strong psychically, so the Serbian team didn’t feel any loss after Marko’s departure.
The first four Masters were won in a superior manner and it looked like Dejan Majstorovic and his teammates will dominate the season completely. However, their form dropped and they start losing games in the next couple of Masters.
Eventually, players from Serbia found necessary chemistry between them when it was needed the most. At Final Masters in Abu Dhabi, Ub overcame all obstacles and won the title for the first time in its history. Vienna, led by Stefan Stojacic, was beaten with 21-14. Finally, Marko Brankovic received the MVP title of Final Masters.
When did Marko Brankovic have his debut for the Serbian national squad?
Marko Brankovic’s good performances resulted in a call to represent Serbia in the 2022 World Cup which was organized in Belgium. He and his teammate Strahinja Stojacic appeared for the first time in Serbian jersey at the planetary championship and received a warm welcome and support from Dejan Majstorovic and Mihailo Vasic.
His team played very well in the group stage recording all five victories. Qualifying for the quarterfinal was expected of them, but they faced Olympic champion Latvia. The Soviet country was defeated and Belgium fell short in the semis. Subsequently, Serbia pulled out a victory over Lithuania in a game for a gold medal with 21-16.
Marko won his first gold on a national level, while this nation became world champion for the fifth time in its history. The biggest flaw in Marko’s performances is his lack of stamina in 1 to 1 clashes with opposing players.
What happened at Europe Cup in 2022 with Marko Brankovic and Serbia?
Following World Cup, Marko and Serbia had a new tournament in front of them in September. Europe Cup was held in Austrian Graz and Serbia pretended to be the throne as World Champion with the same members in the team as three months before.
Ending as the first-placed team in the group stage took Serbia to the fixture with Poland in the quarterfinal. Beating Poland and steamrolling the Netherlands in the semifinal enabled Marko and his colleagues to reach the big final.
Serbian players defeated Latvia in the game for first place with 21-14 and lifted the trophy for the fourth time.
Marko Brankovic and his teammates won all they could win in 2022 at the national level. Marko raised the level of his game drastically over the years and became one of the most influential players in the 3×3 world.
There is no doubt that he wants to win Olympic Games next year and gold is the biggest target in his playing career. Is he going to achieve that result in Paris? It’s difficult to predict how far the Serbian squad will go at the greatest sport event. Brankovic is motivated and inspired to repeat the 2022 season on the club and national levels, for sure.
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